Death toll in Tunisia migrant boats disaster rises to 20

Four boats carrying 120 African migrants to Italy capsized off Sfax at the weekend

A Tunisian coast guard member helps a child off a rescue boat after migrants were rescued off the coast of Sfax, on Saturday. Reuters

The death toll from the sinking of migrant boats off Tunisia at the weekend rose to 20 people on Monday, a judicial official said.

Tunisia's coastguard recovered three more bodies on Monday, said Mourad Turki, spokesman for the courts in the city of Sfax.

Seventeen bodies were recovered at the weekend after four boats carrying 120 African migrants to Italy capsized off Sfax.

The Tunisian navy on Sunday rescued 98 people out of the 120 believed to be on the boats, Ali Ayari, spokesman for the Tunisian National Guard in Sfax told AP.

The boats had been en route to Italy, he added.

Hundreds of thousands of people have made the perilous Mediterranean crossing in recent years.

The UN's International Organization for Migration estimates that more than 1,500 people died or went missing in the area in 2021 and more than 500 so far in 2022.

The UN agency described the central Mediterranean, which connects Libya and the Maghreb countries to Italy or Malta, as the most dangerous migration route in the world.

It is the latest in a series of migrant boat disasters that have taken place off Tunisia.

Despite rough weather, migration attempts have multiplied lately from both the Tunisian and Libyan coasts, many of which end in tragedy with dozens of people drowning, amid an increase in the frequency of attempted crossings from Tunisia and Libya towards Italy.

Estimates from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) showed that more than 123,000 migrants arrived to Italy in 2021, compared to more than 95,000 in 2020.

Earlier this month, Tunisian authorities recovered the bodies of 13 migrants, including six women and six children, after their boats capsized as they tried to make the dangerous sea crossing to Italy.

The coastline of Sfax has become a major departure point for people fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa and the Middle East and seeking a better life in Europe.