The Tunisian Coast Guard rescued 24 people from Africa on board a boat that sank in the sea off the coast of Sfax yesterday evening. According to the Italian news agency ANSA, 13 people are still missing and the search for them is ongoing. Those rescued said they came from different countries south of the Sahara.
At the end of the week, the Tunisian Coast Guard stopped the departure of three boats off the coast of the Kerkennah Islands and the city of Mahdia, and rescued a total of 119 people from the stricken boats. She added that all the people came from different countries south of the Sahara and the judiciary was informed of their attempt to immigrate illegally.
The Italian government around Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is working to strengthen cooperation with North African countries in order to slow down transit to Italy. For example, Meloni visited Tripoli on Saturday to discuss measures to combat people smuggling.
According to the Italian Ministry of the Interior, 4,452 people have arrived in Italy after cruises across the Mediterranean since the beginning of 2023. In the same period in 2022, there were 2,250. More than 100,000 people have arrived in Italy in 2022. On vacation Over the weekend alone, about 330 people on board the rescue ships “Geo Parentes” and “Ocean Viking” disembarked in Italian ports.
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