Tunisia: 29 Migrant Bodies Recovered Off Tunisian Coast

Pixabay/ @tunis-106951_1280
Une vue sur la ville de Tunis
27 March 2023
Voice of America (Washington, DC)

The bodies of at least 29 people, many of them sub-Saharan Africans, were recovered from the Mediterranean Sea over the weekend off the coast of Tunisia, according to the Tunisian National Guard. Eleven people were rescued.

Officials say they do not know for sure how many vessels sank or how many people may have been aboard.

The migrants were trying to reach Italy, the initial landing point for many migrants on their journey to Europe, where the often-desperate travelers believe they will find a better life.

Last month, Tunisia President Kais Saied made derogatory remarks about the sub-Saharan Africans living in Tunisia, saying they were the cause of a crime wave and threatened the demographic composition of Tunisia's Arab-Muslim population.

Saied's remarks were denounced as "racist hate speech" by the African Union.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press.

Read the original article on VOA.

Tagged:
Copyright © 2023 Voice of America. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica publishes around 500 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.