TUNIS, Feb 27 (NNN-TAP) – Tunisia’s maritime guards rescued 63 undocumented immigrants, after their boat sank off the Tunisian coast, the Tunisian National Guard said in a statement, posted on its Facebook page, yesterday.
“The rescue operation took place off Kerkennah Islands, in the south-eastern Tunisian Province of Sfax,” it added.
During the operation, the maritime guards also retrieved a body of an immigrant, it said.
The immigrants, who were from different countries, said, they had sailed from a neighbouring country towards Italy’s Lampedusa island, in the Mediterranean Sea.
Tunisia, located in the central Mediterranean, is one of the main points of access to Europe, used by illegal immigrants.
The number of illegal immigrants heading for Italy from the Tunisian coast has been increasing, despite the strict measures taken by the Tunisian authorities.– NNN-TAP
