Two Dead, Dozen Missing After Migrant Boat Capsizes Off Southern Tunisia

TUNIS, Tunisia — A migrant boat capsized off the coast of southern Tunisia, leaving at least two people dead and approximately 12 others missing, the Tunisian National Guard reported Saturday. A sole survivor was rescued.

Guard spokesperson Houssem Eddine Jebabli told the state news agency TAP that authorities recovered two bodies and transferred them to a hospital on the nearby island of Djerba. Speaking to national radio Mosaique FM, Jebabli said roughly 15 people were believed to have been aboard the vessel when it departed from the area between the cities of Zarzis and Ben Guerdane.

The boat set out early Thursday, and a commercial ship discovered the lone survivor wearing a life jacket on Saturday, Mosaique reported, citing the survivor’s testimony. A helicopter and coast guard vessels were subsequently dispatched to the area to search for additional survivors, according to an Associated Press photojournalist at the scene. The migrants were believed to be attempting to reach Italy.

Zarzis has long served as a primary departure point for Tunisians and migrants from across Africa attempting the perilous Mediterranean crossing to Europe. The city experienced a similar tragedy in 2022 when a boat carrying 18 people vanished. That incident triggered weeks of protests as families accused authorities of inadequate search efforts and burying recovered bodies without identification or notifying relatives.

Migrant departures from Tunisia have dropped significantly since the European Union and Tunisia signed a comprehensive agreement in 2023. The deal provided EU funding and technical support for Tunisian border control and coast guard training aimed at curbing irregular migration and dismantling human trafficking networks in the Mediterranean basin. The EU allocated 105 million euros (approximately $121 million) in migration-related aid to Tunisia in 2023 alone.

Despite the decline in departures, dangerous crossings from Tunisia’s southern coast persist. Families in the region, particularly in Zarzis, continue to search for relatives who have disappeared at sea over the years.

Rights groups have raised serious concerns regarding the treatment of migrants and asylum seekers in Tunisia since the EU agreement took effect. Reports have documented collective expulsions, racial violence, arbitrary detention, and abuses against Black migrants.

In July, Amnesty International asserted that EU support for border control in Tunisia continues to fuel serious human rights violations. The organization stated that refugees and asylum seekers are being “deliberately trapped in a system that offers neither protection nor a safe way out.”

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