At least two people have died and 12 remain missing after a boat carrying migrants overturned off the southern coast of Tunisia, the national guard confirmed on Saturday. A single survivor was rescued.
Guard spokesperson Houssem Eddine Jebabli informed state news agency TAP that two retrieved bodies were taken to a hospital on the nearby island of Djerba. Speaking to national radio station Mosaique FM, he added that approximately 15 people were thought to be aboard when the boat launched between Zarzis and Ben Guerdane.
The boat set off early on Thursday morning. A commercial vessel discovered the lone survivor wearing a life jacket on Saturday, according to details reported by Mosaique based on the survivor’s account.
A helicopter and coast guard boats were deployed to the location to search for additional survivors, an Associated Press photo journalist at the scene said. The migrants were believed to be travelling towards Italy.
Zarzis has long served as a key departure point for Tunisians and individuals from across Africa and beyond seeking to make the Mediterranean crossing to Europe.
The city experienced a similar tragedy in 2022 when a vessel carrying 18 people disappeared. That event triggered weeks of demonstrations, with relatives accusing officials of failing to conduct adequate searches and burying several recovered bodies without establishing their identities or contacting their families.
Migrant departures from Tunisia have fallen sharply since the European Union and Tunisia signed a comprehensive pact in 2023. The agreement included EU financial assistance and technical support for border control and coast guard training to curb irregular migration and deter human traffickers in the Mediterranean basin. The EU allocated 105 million euros ($121 million) in migration support to Tunisia in 2023 alone.
The drop in numbers has not stopped dangerous crossings from Tunisia’s southern coastline, where families in Zarzis have spent years searching for relatives missing at sea.
Human rights organisations have raised concerns over the treatment of migrants and asylum seekers in Tunisia since the EU deal, pointing to reports of collective expulsions, racial violence, arbitrary detention and abuses against Black migrants.
In July, Amnesty International stated that EU support for border security in Tunisia was continuing to fuel grave rights violations, adding that refugees and asylum seekers were being "deliberately trapped in a system that offers neither protection nor a safe way out."
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