The Tunisian authorities suspect the victims embarked from Libya.
ADVERTISEMENTTunisia's coast guard retrieved the bodies of nine people who died after their boat sank on Thursday, marking the latest disaster for migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.
The coast guard also retrieved 45 people from the boat after it started to fill with water around six kilometres off the coast of Zarzis, a common departure point near Tunisia's border with Libya.
Coast guard spokesman Houssameddine Jbabli said the boat, which was carrying non-Tunisian passengers, likely embarked from Libya. He added that survivors were transported to a local hospital in Tunisia.
Several weeks earlier, a large boat with an estimated 54 Tunisians, likely attempting to migrate to Europe went missing at sea, sparking protests from relatives from the city of El Hancha. The relatives have demanded information and a governmental response to the growing number of Tunisian youth going missing attempting to cross the Mediterranean.
Migrants' rights groups such as the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES), have criticized the government and said they have not done enough to save the lives of those at sea.
FTDES representative Romdhane Ben Amor said that authorities have instead focused on preventing migrants from reaching Italy — a larger geopolitical question that has long impacted relations between North Africa and Europe.
Ben Amour's organisation reported this week that a record 1,313 migrants had died at sea off the Tunisian coast in 2023, highlighting the country's status as today's primary point of departure for migrants aiming to cross the sea to reach Europe.
A greater number of migrants entered Europe from Tunisia than Libya, Morocco or Turkey in 2021. Using compiled data from Europe, Tunisia and UN agencies, FTDES said more than 80,000 migrants had been intercepted at sea in 2023 — a figure more than twice as large as the prior year's.
That includes a growing number of both Tunisians and sub-Saharan Africans, including from Guinea, Cote D'Ivoire and Sudan, according to UN figures.