According to the European Union border agency Frontex, in the first four months of this year, the number of people illegally crossing into Europe via the Central Mediterranean increased by nearly 300% compared to the same period last year.
Migrants after being rescued and taken to el-Ketef port in Tunisia while on an illegal migration journey to Europe, June 24, 2021. (Photo: AFP/VNA)According to a VNA correspondent in North Africa, on May 17, a Tunisian judicial official said that the bodies of nine migrants had been discovered in the west of the country, near the border with Algeria. These were migrants from countries in the southern Sahara desert in Africa.
Tunisia, whose coastline is less than 150km from the Italian island of Lampedusa, has long been a popular transit point for migrants attempting the perilous sea journey from North Africa to Europe.
Riadh Nwiwi, spokesman for the Kasserine court, said the bodies were discovered in the mountains near Haidra, a town in Kasserine province, and authorities had opened an investigation and autopsies "to determine the cause of death." Nwiwi noted an unusual increase in the number of migrants from other parts of Africa crossing the Algerian-Tunisian border, especially in the forested area near Haidra.
In a statement, the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES), a migrant support group, added that according to preliminary information, cold, thirst and fatigue were the causes of the migrants' deaths .
According to FTDES, migrants travel long distances in adverse environments to escape conflict, harsh economic conditions and the impacts of climate change.
FTDES called on the Tunisian authorities to put in place measures to address this situation, such as a reception and navigation system on the Algerian-Tunisian border to ensure basic humanitarian services along "deadly migration routes."
Since the start of the year, dozens of migrants have drowned in a series of shipwrecks off the coast of Tunisia while trying to reach Europe.
According to the European Union border agency (Frontex), in the first four months of this year, the number of people illegally crossing into Europe via the Central Mediterranean increased by nearly 300% compared to the same period last year, with nearly 42,200 cases detected./.
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