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The Mare Jonio rescue boat
The rescue boat Mare Jonio (pictured), led by the Italian NGO Mediterranea, has resumed its work in the Mediterranean. Photograph: Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters
The rescue boat Mare Jonio (pictured), led by the Italian NGO Mediterranea, has resumed its work in the Mediterranean. Photograph: Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters

At least 61 people dead as migrant boat sinks off Tunisia

This article is more than 3 years old

Boat carrying dozens of people trying to reach Italy sank last week, reports say

At least 61 people have died after a boat carrying dozens of people sank last week off the coast of Tunisia, according to local officials.

According to an initial reconstruction of events, the boat, carrying people mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, had left the Tunisian coast from the city of Sfax, aiming to reach Italy. The shipwreck occurred between 4 and 5 June off the Kerkennah Islands, said investigators, and authorities were alerted on 9 June by fishermen who first spotted the floating bodies.

Officials in Tunisia said on Saturday that the total number of bodies recovered had risen from 39 to 61. At least 22 women had been found dead, one of whom was pregnant, and four children. Tunisian authorities have launched an investigation.

According to the United Nations refugee agency, attempts to reach the Italian coast from Tunisia increased by 150% in the first four months of the year, compared with the same period in 2019. More than 80 people trying to reach Europe died in July 2019 after their boat capsized off the port town of Zarzis.

Hanan Hamdan, the Tunisia representative for the UN high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR), said she was “concerned about this new trend in departures. We need to provide people with meaningful alternatives that can prevent extreme choices in the search for a better life.’’

Vincent Cochetel, the UNHCR’s special envoy for the central Mediterranean, said he feared more would try to make the crossing. “Fifty-three per cent of migrants and refugees lost their jobs during the Covid-19 restrictions in Tunisia. It is not clear how many will manage to get a job back or will face tougher competition with locals,” he said. “Despair drives people to risk their lives and smugglers keep lying to them.”

Italy and Malta in April declared their seaports “unsafe” due to the pandemic and closed their borders to migrant landings. Boats carrying asylum seekers and migrants were left adrift in European search and rescue (SAR) zones and an unknown number are believed to have died at sea of starvation, dehydration or drowning.

At least three NGO rescue boats have resumed work in the Mediterranean. On Tuesday night, the Mare Jonio, led by the Italian NGO Mediterranea, sailed towards the Libyan SAR zone. After two months, the Astral, commanded by the NGO Proactiva Open Arms, has returned to the sea, while the German Sea-Watch 3 is heading towards the Libya coast after a three-month pause in the port of Messina in Sicily.

“War refugees and victims of torture are being left to die in silence or captured with the coordination of European governments and then tortured in Libyan detention camps. Mare Jonio is returning to its rightful place, where aid and humanity are needed,” said Alessandra Sciurba, the president of Mediterranea.

As millions of people take to the streets to protest against police brutality in the name of George Floyd, Sciurba added: “‘I can’t breathe’ is also the last call for help among those dying in the Mediterranean, condemned to death at the hands of criminal policies.”

More on this story

More on this story

  • Little Amal in London – in pictures

  • Matteo Salvini objects to Richard Gere as witness in kidnap trial

  • Rescuers find 39 bodies off Tunisia after two boats sink

  • People hide among broken glass and toxic ash in attempt to reach Europe

  • Thousands of refugees in mental health crisis after years on Greek islands

  • Baby dies on rescue boat after Mediterranean shipwreck

  • Italian coastguard and cargo ship ‘ignored stricken migrant boat’

  • Calls in Italy to rescue people at sea after fears of more migrant deaths

  • Italy declares own ports 'unsafe' to stop migrants arriving

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