Three children among 12 dead as boat capsizes off Tunisian coast

At least 10 people still missing and 29 rescued in latest boat disaster in the Mediterranean.

At least 12 people have been found dead and 10 are still missing after a boat heading to Europe capsized off the coast of Tunisia’s southeastern island of Djerba, according to officials.

Judicial official Fethi Baccouche told the AFP news agency on Monday that three children were among the dead.

The Medenine court spokesman also said 29 people had been rescued after the early morning sinking, the cause of which remained unknown.

The Tunisian National Guard said it was alerted to the incident by four migrants who swam back ashore.

Human Rights Observatory, a local rights group, said all the people on board were Tunisians bar two Moroccans, according to the Reuters news agency.

Tunisia and Libya have become key departure points for refugees and migrants, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, who often risk dangerous sea journeys across the Mediterranean to seek a better life in Europe.

More than 1,300 people died or disappeared last year in shipwrecks off Tunisia, according to the rights group Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights.

The exodus is prompted by Tunisia’s stagnant economy, with only 0.4 percent growth in 2023 and unemployment soaring. The country has also been shaken by political tensions after President Kais Saied, democratically elected in 2019, orchestrated a power grab in July 2021.

Overall, the central Mediterranean is among the world’s deadliest migration routes, with more than 2,500 people dying or going missing as they attempted the crossing last year, and 1,116 since the beginning of the year, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

In recent years, the European Union has increased efforts to reduce migration, including by providing equipment and financial support to the Libyan coastguard, a quasi-military organisation linked to militias accused of abuses and crimes.

As a result, many refugees and migrants have found themselves stranded in Libya, often imprisoned in conditions that rights groups describe as inhumane.

Libya is struggling to recover from years of war and chaos after the 2011 NATO-backed overthrow of longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi. The instability has helped turn the country into fertile ground for people-trafficking gangs, who have been accused of abuses ranging from extortion to slavery.

The IOM said in May that there were more than 706,000 migrants in Libya at the start of the year, but Libyan officials say the actual number exceeds two million.