Tunisia Rescues 267 Migrants Stranded at Sea

Arab World

June 25th, 5:30am

Asharq Al-Awsat

A migrant sits on board a rescue boat in the Mediterranean Sea. Reuters file photo

Tunisian authorities on Thursday rescued 267 migrants, most of them Bangladeshis, who tried to sail from Libya to Europe across the Mediterranean, the International Organization for Migration said. Tunisia's coastguard said the migrants, who also included three Egyptians, had been stranded at sea after their boat broke down. The navy helped bring the migrants to shore at the Ben Guerdane port in southern Tunisia, near the border with Libya, and they were handed over to the IOM and the Red Crescent, the coastguard said. The migrants were placed in quarantine at a hotel on the Tunisian island of Djerba, AFP quoted the IOM as saying. According to IOM figures, more than 1,000 migrants hoping to reach Europe had set off from Libya and ended up in Tunisia since January, and the number of departures is rising. There have been 11,000 departures from January to April 2021 from Libya, over 70 percent more than in the same period last year, according to UN refugee agency UNHCR. The agency said the "deteriorating" conditions of migrants in Libya and Tunisia are pushing many to make the dangerous crossing from the North African coast to Europe. Red Crescent official Mongi Slim said centers set up to house migrants in Tunisia are full. According to the UN, at least 760 people have died making the Mediterranean crossing between January 1 and May 31, compared with 1,400 last year.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3046221/tunisia-rescues-267-migrants-stranded-sea