AA / Tunis / Hajer Cherni
Marine Guard units successfully prevented 18 attempts to cross the sea border illegally and rescued 635 migrants after their boats capsized.
In a press release issued on Saturday and transmitted by the Tunis Afrique Presse Agency (TAP/Official), the spokesman for the General Management of the National Guard, Colonel Hossein Eddin Jebabli, confirmed that the rescue operations took place on the night of March 17. Until 18, 2023.
According to the same source, units belonging to the maritime districts of the National Guard in Sfax and Mahdia governorates managed to rescue 635 migrants from sub-Saharan countries who crossed illegally into Tunisian territory after their boats sank.
National Guard units operating in the Kasserine and Tooth regions also arrested 26 people from sub-Saharan African countries on Friday for crossing the western land border and entering Tunisia illegally, TAP reported.
In turn, the Prosecutor’s Office ordered legal measures against them.
Almost every week, Tunisian authorities announce the arrest of several illegal migration attempts on European shores and the arrest of hundreds of migrants from Tunisia or other African countries.
Tunisia has recently experienced an alarming increase in migration attempts to Europe, particularly on the Italian coast, due to the effects of the economic and political crisis in the country and several other countries in the region.
The Tunisian coast is also the site of sporadic operations to rescue migrants after their boats sink in the Mediterranean Sea, particularly during the crossing from the Libyan coast to Italy.
Source: AA
