2024-05-02 14:59:51
The Tunisian News Agency reported on Monday that the Tunisian Coast Guard recovered nine bodies from the sea off the coast of Mahdia.
The agency explained that the Coast Guard recovered seven “decomposed” bodies from Al-Shaba Beach and two from Salqata Beach.
The agency quoted the official spokesman for the Mahdia and Monastir courts, Farid Ben Jaha, as saying that 7 of these bodies, which were in a state of decomposition, were recovered at the Chebba beach level and two bodies were recovered at the Salqata beach level.
The bodies were transported to the area hospital to determine the identities of their owners after submitting them for genetic analysis.
The spokesman denied that a decision had been made on whether the recovered bodies belonged to irregular migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa, according to what was promoted on some social media and media outlets, according to what the official radio reported.
It is noteworthy that last week (Wednesday), it was announced in Tunisia that the bodies of 14 migrants, most of them from sub-Saharan Africa, had been recovered off the southern Tunisian coast, according to a judicial spokesman.
The Public Prosecutor of the Medenine Court (South), Fathi Al-Baccouche, told AFP, “Bodies began to appear near the coast of Djerba Island since Friday, and the toll reached 14 bodies, the majority of whom are of sub-Saharan nationalities.”
Before that, on Tuesday, the Tunisian authorities announced the recovery of 22 bodies belonging to illegal immigrants off the coast of Sfax Governorate (central east), according to what a judicial spokesman said, suggesting that their nationalities return to countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
These bodies have been found in stages in the port of Sidi Youssef (off the coast of Sfax) since Saturday, and they appear to be Africans.
As weather conditions improve, attempts at illegal migration by sea increase, usually ending in drowning incidents and causing tragedies.
According to the International Organization for Migration, more than 2,498 people spent the year 2023 in the Mediterranean while trying to reach European coasts illegally, an increase of 75% over the year 2022.
The phenomenon of migration worries most of the countries of the Maghreb region.
Last Monday, the leaders of Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya announced at the conclusion of a consultative meeting hosted in the Tunisian capital that they agreed to work together to combat the dangers of illegal immigration and unify their positions on this phenomenon.
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2024-05-02 14:59:51