At least 19 sub-Saharan African migrants drowned when the boat they were on sank off the coast of Tunisia, a human rights group said today in what was the latest tragedy in the region.

Over the past four days, five migrant boats have sunk off the northern Tunisian city of Sfax, leaving 67 people missing and nine dead, as the number of migrant boats bound for Italy increased significantly.

The Tunisian coast guard rescued five people off the coast of Mahdia who were on a boat leaving Sfax, said Romandan bin Omar, spokesman for the Forum for Social and Economic Rights (FTDES).

At the same time, the Coast Guard has stopped about 80 boats bound for Italy over the past four days and arrested more than 3,000 migrants, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa.

The coast near the city of Sfax has recently become a major departure point for many African and Middle Eastern migrants fleeing conflict and poverty in search of a better life in Europe.

At least 12,000 migrants who arrived in Italy this year have left Tunisia this year, compared with 1,300 in the same period last year, according to the UN. Until recently, Libya was the main destination for migrants from Africa.

Tunisia’s port authorities prevented more than 14,000 migrants from leaving the country in the first three months of the year, compared with 2,900 in the same period last year, according to FTDES.

Tunisia had been in talks for months about a loan of about $2 billion from the IMF, but talks appeared to stall after an agreement in principle was announced in mid-October.

The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, on Monday described the situation in Tunisia as “very dangerous” and even spoke of the risk of a “collapse” of the state, leading to “immigration flows into the EU and instability in the Middle East.” East and North Africa”.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had a similar reaction when he asked the IMF and some countries to help Tunisia.

Source: APE-ME, REUTERS