TUNIS — Tunisian
coastguards have rescued 48 illegal migrants trying to reach Europe from
neighboring
Libya in a makeshift boat, the North African country's
Red Crescent
said on Saturday.
اضافة اعلان
Red Crescent official Mongi Slim said the
migrants — among them 15 from Mali, 15 Syrians, and four Egyptians — were
intercepted and rescued off Zarzis when their boat broke down.
Libya, which plunged into civil war
following the 2011 toppling and killing of dictator Muammar Gaddafi, has become
a major route for migrants seeking to reach Europe to escape poverty and
conflict.
The rescued migrants were taken to El-Ketef
port before being transferred to
International Organization for Migration (IOM) premises, Slim said.
A separate
Tunisian defense ministry statement said the navy had rescued 28 migrants aged between 14 and 33 off
Zarzis on Thursday. They had also departed from Libya.
The IOM says that 23,000 people have died or
gone missing in the Mediterranean since 2014 while trying to reach Europe —
including nearly 1,700 this year.
On Tuesday the IOM said at least 160
migrants drowned off Libya's coast after their boats sank over the previous
week.
The Italian island of Lampedusa is located
just 140km from Tunisian shores.
Read more Region and World
.jpg)
.jpg)
