Eleven bodies have been recovered off the southeastern coast of Tunisia after a boat carrying 15 migrants sank over the weekend while attempting to reach Italy. Tunisian authorities report that coastguard and military teams are still searching for three missing individuals, with only one survivor rescued after drifting at sea for two days.
The Fatal Crossing and Rescue Operations
The vessel set sail early on Thursday carrying 15 mostly young people from the Ben Guerdane area in southeastern Tunisia. According to the National Guard, the passengers included seven members of the same family and a man traveling with his pregnant wife. The boat went down roughly 14 nautical miles off the Tunisian coast between Zarzis and Ben Guerdane.
Search and rescue efforts involve maritime units from marine customs, the coast guard, civil protection, and the navy, backed by two helicopters from the National Guard and the army. Authorities confirmed that three bodies were recovered on Saturday and eight more on Sunday, bringing the total death toll to 11. The Tunisian National Guard noted that search operations remain active for the three remaining missing people.
Only one passenger has been found alive so far. Wearing a life jacket, the sole survivor told rescuers he spent 48 hours adrift at sea before a commercial vessel picked him up, as reported by migrant rights monitors.
Community Anger and Protests in Ben Guerdane
News of the disaster sparked immediate unrest in southeastern Tunisia. Late on Saturday, dozens of young residents gathered in Ben Guerdane near the Libyan border to demand that authorities accelerate search and rescue operations for the missing. Police used tear gas to disperse the crowds.
Houcem Eddine Jebabli, spokesman for Tunisia’s national guard, stated that officials transferred the recovered bodies to a hospital on the nearby island of Djerba for identification and processing.
Broader Migration Pressures and Human Rights Concerns
The central Mediterranean route remains one of the world’s deadliest migration pathways, utilized by individuals from Africa and the Middle East in unseaworthy vessels. While Tunisia was once a primary departure point for Europe-bound boats, irregular departures have dropped significantly over the past two years due to intensified Tunisian crackdowns and reinforced maritime border controls supported by European funding and Italy’s modern monitoring equipment.
This heightened enforcement has drawn sharp criticism from humanitarian organizations. Last month, 46 rights groups—including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch—issued a joint statement arguing that the 2023 migration agreement between the European Union and Tunisia has fuelled and normalised serious abuses against migrants and asylum seekers.
The coalition of rights organizations called on the European Union to suspend funding for border control activities involving Tunisian security forces, citing reports of collective and summary expulsions
. While the Tunisian government has not formally commented on that specific statement, officials have repeatedly asserted that the country is bearing the brunt of a massive migration influx. President Kais Saied stated in 2023 that the migration pressure aimed to alter the demographic makeup of the nation.
The Toll of the Mediterranean Crossing
The International Organization for Migration estimates that more than 35,000 people have died or gone missing crossing the Mediterranean since 2014. At the same time, the Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights estimates that approximately 10,000 Tunisians have disappeared at sea attempting to reach Europe since 2011.
As coastguard vessels and military aircraft continue sweeps off the coast of Zarzis and Ben Guerdane for the final three missing passengers, families in the region await closure following yet another tragedy on the journey toward European shores.
