Tragic Shipwrecks in Tunisia: 14 Bodies Found Off Coast of Djerba – EU-Tunisia Migrant Treaty Controversy and Recent Rescues

The Tunisian coast guard has recovered fourteen bodies from the sea off the coast of the island of Djerba. This is the third time in two days that the coast guards have found dead migrants.

Yesterday, 22 bodies were found further north on the coast of the city of Sfax. Seven more bodies were found near Gabes in the Gulf of Gabes of the same name.

Recently, the number of migrants into the Mediterranean has increased dramatically again. This year there are already almost 50,000 people. According to the United Nations, around 473 people were killed or missing.

Last year, the highest number of refugees and migrants went to the Italian island of Lampedusa. At least 123,000 people made the crossing, most of them from Tunisia.

Due to the record number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean, the European Union, led by EU President Von der Leyen, Italian Prime Minister Meloni and Prime Minister Rutte, completed a contract with Tunisia last summer.

That country would receive 900 million euros in investments from Europe in exchange for better border control. The deal has had trouble getting off the ground and Tunisia has received large sums several times refund.

Human rights groups criticized the agreement from the beginning. Tunisia deliberately expelled refugees and migrants in the days following the agreement across the borderinto the Libyan desert.

Nieuwsuur reporter Saskia Dekkers spoke to human smugglers last year: