The Mediterranean Sea has claimed the lives of another 19 people off Tunisia's coast, authorities said on Tuesday (April 23). Their bodies were discovered in the Sidi Youssef port (off the coast of Sfax) between Saturday and Tuesday, according to Hichem Ben Ayed, a spokesperson for the Tunisian authority responsible for investigating migrant deaths.

"The bodies appear to be sub-Saharan African and were taken to a morgue," he said.

The spokesperson said it was not clear whether the migrants had been traveling in one or several boats, or even whether or not they had died at sea. According to the UN migration agency, the migrants were trying to reach Lampedusa.

Tunisia and neighboring Libya are the main countries of departure for migrants from many African countries who cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. The city of Sfax, on Tunisia's east coast, is less than 200 kilometers from the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Tunisian crackdown

Tunisian authorities, with the support of the European Commission, have increased efforts to stop criminal networks organizing migrant crossings. In a statement published on Facebook this week, they announced the arrests of five people involved in migrant smuggling.

The Tunisian National Guard also intercepts boats at sea, returning the migrants to Tunisia and, in some documented cases, has expelled them to other countries such as Libya. Earlier in April, it announced that it had intercepted nearly 2,000 migrants trying to reach Lampedusa, and prevented 50 crossings.

Also read: Saied: 'Tunisia will never be a land where migrants settle'

Despite these efforts to control the border, large numbers of migrants continue to make the crossing. During the first quarter of 2024, more than 21,000 people reached Italy by boat from Tunisia, a National Guard spokesperson, Houssam Eddine Jebabli, told Mosaïque FM.

Sub-Saharan African migrants living in Tunisia meanwhile report that their conditions remain extremely difficult, with informal camps frequently ransacked by authorities.

On Tuesday, security forces and the National Guard carried out a large-scale operation at two migrant camps in El Amra and Jebiniana in the Sfax region, according to migrant testimonies. Videos sent to the French service of InfoMigrants show tents, personal belongings and food supplies being set alight in the operation.

Also read: IOM distributes food to stranded migrants in Sfax, Tunisia

No safe way out

Some migrants have reported that the only way to escape from this situation in Tunisia is to take to the sea. But this carries a high risk of death. Shipwrecks of migrant boats leaving Tunisia are common due mainly to dangerous sea currents and dilapidated boats.

On April 10, two boats capsized after departing from Tunisia. One was wrecked off the island of Lampedusa, leaving nine people dead and 15 others missing. The second shipwreck happened off the Tunisian coast – the 45 migrants on board have not been found.

Earlier in April the bodies of 13 people were recovered off the Tunisian coast, and on March 25, the Tunisian coast guard found five bodies.

According to the UN migration agency IOM, 488 people are known to have died trying to cross the central Mediterranean since the start of this year. Last year, the confirmed number of deaths was around 2,500, but the true figure – taking into account unrecorded departures – is believed to be much higher.

With AFP

Correction notice: This article, first published on April 24, was updated on April 25 to correct the number of deaths from 22 to at least 19.