Five dead and 28 missing after boat sinks off Tunisia

Central Mediterranean is known as the world's deadliest migration route

Migrants sit in a life raft off Tunisia in May 2022. AP

A boat capsized off Tunisia on Wednesday, with five migrants from sub-Saharan Africa drowning and 28 missing, a rights group said.

"Five migrants' bodies were recovered and five other migrants were rescued, but 28 are still missing," said Romdhane Ben Amor of the Tunisian Forum for social and economic rights.

The boat had sunk "because it was overloaded" with 38 people, mostly from the Ivory Coast, Mr Ben Amor said.

The boat set off from the coastal region of Sfax towards the Italian island of Lampedusa, a popular gateway for those escaping war and persecution across Africa to try to reach safety in Europe.

The sinking is the latest such tragedy on the central Mediterranean, which is known as the world's deadliest migration route.

It comes a month after Tunisian President Kais Saied made an incendiary speech accusing migrants from sub-Saharan Africa of representing a "plot" against Tunisia and causing a wave of crime.

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His comments started a wave of violence against black migrants, and landlords fearing fines evicted hundreds of people who are now camping in the streets of Tunis.

Migrants, many of whom fear they will face violence if they go home, have called on the UN refugee agency to move them out.

About 21,000 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa are believed to be in the country of 12 million people.