Fifteen migrants dead after boat capsizes off Tunisia’s Djerba Island

Searchers say they rescued 29 people and that three babies were among those who died

Dozens of migrants fall into the water off Tunisia in May 2022. AP

A boat carrying at least 57 migrants capsized on Sunday off the coasts of the Tunisian island of Djerba, Tunisia’s National Guard General Directorate said on Monday.

Authorities said they have been able to rescue 29 people and recover 15 bodies, including three infants, and that search-and-rescue operations are still under way to find those still missing.

“Search operations are still ongoing to find those missing, in co-ordination with the military naval units and civil defence,” the directorate said.

“The General Directorate of the coast guard confirms the readiness of all its units to intervene in such incidents and continues to follow developments with great precision.”

The boat that sank in the Mediterranean sea, one of the deadliest migration routes in the world, had Tunisian nationals on board and two Moroccans, Mostafa Abdelkebir, director of the Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights, said in a post on Facebook.

The UN Migration Agency IOM estimates that the total number of migrant deaths and disappearances in the Mediterranean region jumped from 2,411 in 2022 to 3,041 by the end of last year.

More than 1,300 who have died or gone missing after boats sank off Tunisia’s coast, the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights said.

In recent years, Tunisia turned into a major transit point to Europe mainly for Sub-Saharan African migrants fleeing conflict and poor economic conditions.

The number has increased even further as thousands of Sudanese refugees and asylum seekers continue to flock into Tunisia through its land borders to try to escape war in their country.

In June, Tunisian authorities said 30,281 irregular migrants were intercepted at sea between January 1 and May 31, compared with 21,652 last year.

Tunisian President Kais Saied with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the Carthage Presidential Palace in Tunis in June 2023. EPA

Tunisia has signed several agreements with the EU and countries such as Italy and France to increase its interceptions to curb migrant influxes to Europe, in exchange for financial assistance worth millions of euros.

Rights groups in the North African country have accused its government and Italy of an anti-migrant stance and legitimising the expulsion of hundreds of people into the desert, where they are left stranded.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has led and mediated most of these negotiations, has been repeatedly criticised for what many describe as “an attempt to impose her right-wing government agenda” in Tunisia.

In May, Tunisian President Kais Saied said in a meeting with high-ranking officials from the National Security Council that they have expelled 400 sub-Saharan African migrants from Tunisia's eastern border.

Mr Saied, who did not specify the whereabouts of those who had been expelled, repeated his claim that there is a plot to resettle Sub-Saharan migrants in Tunisia “to change its demographic composition".