TUNIS —
Tunisian authorities said Monday
they intercepted or rescued over 200 migrants trying to reach Europe by sea
over the weekend, including an entire extended family from the economic
crisis-hit country.
اضافة اعلان
The coastguard on Sunday night thwarted 10 attempted
crossings, bringing ashore 156 would-be new arrivals in Italy, the national
guard said.
Two-thirds of them were from sub-Saharan Africa and
the rest were Tunisians.
Defense ministry spokesman
Mohamed Zekri told AFP
that 42 Egyptians who had set sail from neighboring Libya were rescued Sunday
off Kerkennah, central Tunisia, after their boat sank and they took refuge on
an oil platform.
After a similar incident in the same zone the previous
weekend, 10 Tunisian migrants were feared to have drowned while 20 were saved.
Tunisian
authorities also said 15 members of a family from Hammamet in central Tunisia,
including five women and four small children, were prevented from heading out
to sea on Friday night.
Tunisia and
Libya are the main points of departure
for migrants trying to reach Europe from Africa.
Tunisia is in the throes of political and economic
crises, and Libya has been gripped by lawlessness since 2011 that has seen
militias turn to people trafficking.
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