21 dead as migrant boat capsizes off Tunisia

TUNIS: Tunisian authorities said they recovered the bodies of 21 migrants from sub-saharan Africa, including nine women and a baby, whose boat sank on Friday off the central port city of Sfax. The cause of the sinking was unclear.

Commander Housemeddine Jebabli, of the National Guard, said there were only three survivors, who were rescued by the coast guard with the help of civil protection divers.

Jebabli said that authorities are continuing to search the area of the sinking, as there are indications that 17 people could be missing.

Jebabli said a survivor told him that the boat had 41 migrants on board, who had set off the day before from Sfax in hope of reaching the Italian coast. The port city has become a common exit point for Europe-bound migrants escaping conflict or poor living conditions.

Last month, on March 9, two boats ran aground in the same area killing 39 people, while 165 migrants were rescued. Most were sub-saharan nationals.

Meanwhile, the head of the UN refugee agency said he has urged Italy not to unnecessarily impede NGOS that operate migrant rescue ships in the central Mediterranean, as warmer weather is expected to bring the usual seasonal uptick in the departure of smugglers’ boats from Libya.

Charity boats “fill an important void” in the absence of collective EU efforts, Filippo Grandi told reporters, a day ater meeting with Italian Premier Mario Draghi and Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio. He met on Friday with Pope Francis.

Charities that operate the boats complain that safety measures required by Italy are tantamount to blocking their operations.

“We need to find a balance,’’ Grandi said. “On the one side, it is clear the rescues at sea need to be carried out, also by NGOS, following safety criteria. On the other hand, there shouldn’t be requests for excessive measures that impede this essential effort by the NGOS to save people who are crossing.”

“I completely disagree with any atempt to penalise the NGOS for what they are doing. It is a precious and vital job,’’ Grandi added. He said there was no evidence that the presence of the boats encourages more departures, as critics of the rescues claim.

Italy currently has blocked the ship SeaWatch 3 in Sicily, while the Alan Kurdi, which had been blocked in Sardinia, has been allowed to travel to Spain for routine maintenance while proceedings on the administrative measure are pending. The boats are operated respectively by the Sea Watch and Sea-eye humanitarian groups, both based in Germany.