The tragic news coming out of Tunisia is heart-wrenching. According to reports, 41 bodies were retrieved from Tunisian waters by coastguards, bringing the total number of victims of refugee shipwrecks off the country’s coast to 210 in just 10 days. This is an unprecedented and alarming figure that highlights the severity of the situation.
Most of the victims are asylum seekers from sub-Saharan Africa, Syria, and Sudan, who are trying to reach Italy from Tunisia. The recent crackdown on departures by authorities in neighboring Libya has led to an increase in the number of boats carrying refugees, and Tunisia is struggling to contain the surge.
Morgues and hospitals in the key launchpad city of Sfax are already full, and officials are struggling to find space to bury the victims. There have been so many refugees risking the dangerous sea crossing that funerals are taking place almost every day to reduce the pressure on hospitals.
The problem of managing the bodies of those drowned in shipwrecks is complicated by the fact that local authorities have undertaken to create a special cemetery for migrants on the grounds that they are not Muslims. Many of those who have drowned come from Muslim-majority nations.
According to Romdhane Ben Amor of the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES), at least 220 dead and missing have been recorded this year to April 24, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa. More than three-quarters of refugees leaving Tunisia do so from the coast between Sfax and Mahdia, some 90km (55 miles) north.
The number of refugee departures has intensified after President Kais Saied made a speech on February 21 claiming that irregular immigration was a demographic threat to Tunisia. While many of the refugees come from further south in Africa, Tunisia is also in the grip of a worsening economic crisis that has pushed many of its citizens to take desperate measures in search of better lives abroad.
The situation in Tunisia is dire, and urgent action is needed to address the refugee crisis. It is essential to provide support to refugees and asylum seekers who are risking their lives in search of safety and a better future. We must come together as a global community to offer assistance and support to those who need it most.
