Search continues in Tunisia as migrant boat sinking sparks protests

Volunteers in Tunisia have continued the search for two people still missing after a boat carrying 15 migrants sank off the country’s southeastern coast, as the city of Ben Guerdane reeled from violent protests sparked by the tragedy.

Footage, verified by Al Jazeera, showed volunteers in the city of Zarzis heading out to sea on fishing boats on Monday to search for the missing.

list of 3 items

list 1 of 3Tunisia recovers 11 bodies after boat carrying migrants sinks, 3 missing
list 2 of 3Antigovernment protesters take to Tunisia’s streets for second month
list 3 of 3Tunisia sees protests after migrant boat sinking kills eight

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The migrant boat, believed to be headed towards Italy, sank late on Friday after setting off from a location between Zarzis and Ben Guerdane with 15 mostly young people on board. It sank about 14 nautical miles (26km) off the coast of Zarzis.

Only one person survived, having drifted at sea for about 48 hours before being rescued by a commercial vessel, according to Tunisian media.

The bodies of 12 people were recovered by Sunday, the Tunisian National Guard said.

The deaths have sparked a wave of grief and anger, triggering violent protests in Ben Guerdane on Sunday night. According to the Tunisian National Guard, some 14 people on the boat were from Ben Guerdane, and one was from Zarzis.

The protesters burned tyres and blocked roads, while police responded by firing tear gas to disperse the crowds. The protesters demanded better living conditions and economic development, saying a lack of opportunities and years of marginalisation are pushing young people to undertake dangerous sea crossings to Europe in search of a better life.

Mostafa Abdelkebir, the head of the Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights, said those on board included seven members of the same family. He told the Reuters news agency on Monday that a hospital in Ben Guerdane has received at least 19 bodies of migrants recovered from the sea over the past two days.

It was not clear if all the bodies were from the boat that sank. Abdelkebir told Reuters that genetic testing was being carried out to identify the bodies and determine how many had been on board the boat.

Some in Tunisia have called for a national day of mourning over the deaths.

Imad Oulad Jibril, a lawmaker, on Sunday called it “the tragedy of a nation that sees its youth fleeing the hardships of the land only to be swallowed by the sea”.

The opposition Democratic Bloc party tied the sinking to Tunisia’s economic strains, saying: “When crossing the sea becomes easier than living in Tunisia, we must ask: Who is at fault?”

Tunisia has seen similar tragedies in recent years, including the Kerkennah disaster, in which more than 100 people died or went missing in 2018 after the sinking of a migrant boat. The incident led to the dismissal of the then-interior minister. In Zarzis in 2022, at least 18 people died after another migrant boat sank, sparking weeks of protests.

Tunisia’s southeastern coast lies just 145 km (90 miles) from the Italian island of Lampedusa.

The central Mediterranean is considered the deadliest migration route in the world, according to the International Organization for Migration, which says at least 821 migrants have died or gone missing on the route this year – more than double the toll over the same period last year.

Across the Mediterranean as a whole, at least 1,065 people have died or gone missing, according to the group.

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