Five migrants from sub-Saharan Africa drowned and another 28 were missing on Wednesday, March 22, after their boat capsized off Tunisia, a rights group said. "Five migrants' bodies were recovered and five other migrants were rescued, but 28 are still missing," said Romdhane Ben Amor of the Tunisian Forum for social and economic rights (FTDES).
He said it had sunk "because it was overloaded" with 38 people, mostly from Côte d'Ivoire. The boat had set off from the coastal region of Sfax in the direction of the Italian island of Lampedusa, a popular launchpad for people from people escaping war and persecution across Africa to try to reach safety in Europe. The sinking is the latest such tragedy on the central Mediterranean, known as the world's deadliest migration route.
It comes a month after President Kais Saied made an incendiary speech accusing migrants from sub-Saharan Africa of representing a "plot" against Tunisia and causing a wave of crime. His comments sparked a wave of violence against black migrants, and landlords fearing fines evicted hundreds of people who are now camping in the streets of Tunis.
Migrants, many of whom fear they will face violence if they go home, have called on the United Nations' refugee agency UNHCR to evacuate them. Around 21,000 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa are believed to be in the country of 12 million people.