"About 3,400 undocumented migrants have left Tunisia voluntarily since the beginning of the year," National Guard spokesperson Houssemeddine Jebabli said on May 29 to Radio Sfax. He added that the country "currently runs two flights for voluntary return every week" and that "numerous individual departures" happen as well.

"The day before yesterday a special flight from the Tunis-Carthage airport was organized and another is scheduled for today as part of the voluntary returns program," he said on Thursday (May 29).

Strengthening of border control

Jebabli underscored that Tunisia had successfully strengthened border controls, especially at its martime borders, as well as helping to limit the entrance of migrants via land.

The spokesperson said that he believed more and more migrants are beginning to understand that Tunisia is not a transit zone for Europe and thus are seeking other coasts outside the country to depart from in their attempts to cross the Mediterranean.

Jebabli also cited the continuing efforts of the Tunisian authorities to dismantle a makeshift camp for undocumented migrants in El Amra, at the 21-kilometer mark from the Sfax governorate that is situated on state property of a site that hosts about 3,000 migrants.

Evacuation of El Amra camp conducted without incident

"The state is acting firmly to restore order, recover public property, and restore private property to its legitimate owners," the spokesperson said, stressing that the evacuation from the El Amra camp is being conducted in a peaceful manner after talks between the secret services and migrants.

The operation involves several agencies from the interior ministry as well as the Tunisian Red Crescent, Tunisian scouts, and Sfax local authorities, explained Jebabli.

Tunisian authorities generally do not communicate where migrants expelled from camps are relocated, nor how many of them are still on Tunisian soil.