The Tunisian Ministry of Interior announced in statements released on Tuesday that it has recovered 462 bodies of drowned migrants and intercepted over 30,000 individuals attempting to cross maritime borders, as part of its efforts to combat irregular migration, according to reports.
According to the ministry’s data, naval units prevented 30,281 people from crossing maritime borders from the beginning of the current year until the end of May, compared to 21,652 individuals during the same period in 2023. Naval units also recovered 462 bodies, including 7 Tunisians, in 2024, compared to 712 bodies, including 24 Tunisians, during the same period last year.
Tunisia is a major transit area for thousands of migrants traveling to the nearby Italian islands’ coasts from sub-Saharan African countries. Rome and the European Union are exerting pressure to curb these flows through economic and financial aid to Tunisia.
In response to these pressures, the International Organization for Migration announced days ago the facilitation of the safe voluntary return of 173 migrants from Benin, among thousands of stranded migrants in Tunisia.
The organization stated that the migrants returned to Cotonou on a flight from Djerba Airport in southern Tunisia, noting that among the returnees were 14 families who benefited from departure assistance, such as social, medical, accommodation, and hygiene support, as well as children’s needs, food vouchers, and clothing, and will benefit from a reintegration package.
These individuals add to about 7,100 migrants from sub-Saharan African countries who had left Tunisia under the same program between March 2023 and May 2024, according to the Tunisian Ministry of Interior.
According to the interior ministry’s data, more than 32,000 migrants are present in the country, with 23,000 of them being illegal, and most of them seeking to cross the Mediterranean Sea to European shores in search of better life opportunities.
