- By Jennifer Prill
- (General Dispatch) – On the coast of Sfax, in eastern Tunisia, 39 migrants died when they were shipwrecked in the Mediterranean Sea. Two makeshift boats were carrying more than 170 migrants of African origin who intended to sail to the Italian island of Lampedusa.
- The port city of Sfax has been a point of arrival for migrants fleeing poverty and violence in their home countries, undertaking shipwrecks in order to seek a better life for their families in Europe.
- A representative of Tunisia’s National Guard Houcem Eddine Jebabli said the boats, most of them migrants, had undertaken the journey to pass the Strait of Sicily at night.
- Jebabli said the boats were at maximum capacity and the parts used to build them were of poor quality, endangering the lives of the sub-Saharan crew members.
- According to Reuters the number of migrants attempting to reach Italian shores has quintupled since 2020, a figure of more than 14,000 in just one year.
- Although the measures have increased because of the pandemic generated by COVID 19, immigrants have ignored the health crisis suffered worldwide.
- Then the leader of Italy’s Lega party, Matteo Salvini blamed the policies implemented by the leftist government called “open port”. According to Salvini, these deaths are the result of do-gooders, of ‘there is room for everyone,’ of open ports, of a renewed enthusiasm for smugglers,” Salvini said 2019.
- The ministry’s spokesman, Mohamed Zekri. Issued a statement, explaining that the greatest efforts are being made in order to get more survivors.
Adittional Information:
Breitbart: Thirty-Nine African Migrants Drown in Mediterranean Shipwrecks
Rai News: Naufragio al largo delle coste della Tunisia: recuperati 39 cadaveri
