10 bodies of illegal immigrants were recovered and 76 rescued off the Tunisian coast

The Tunisian  National Guard announced today (Wednesday) the recovery of 10 bodies of illegal immigrants after their boat sank, and the rescue of 76 others off the Tunisian coast.

The official spokesman for the General Administration of the National Guard (Gendarmerie), Brigadier General Hussam Eddine Al-Jababli, said in a statement he published today on his official page on ((Facebook)) that "the floating units of the Naval Guards in the center (the maritime region of Sfax) and the north (the maritime region in Tunisia) have recovered 10 Bodies of illegal immigrants whose boat sank at sea while trying to sneak into the Italian coast.

Al-Jababli added that the naval units "were also able to thwart two operations to cross the maritime borders by stealth and rescue and rescue 76 illegal immigrants, including 4 Tunisians and the rest from sub-Saharan African countries."

The Tunisian official did not mention the date of the recovery of these bodies and the thwarting of the two attempts to cross the Tunisian sea borders by stealth, as he only indicated that the Public Prosecution Office ordered, after consulting it, to take the necessary measures regarding these illegal immigrants.

The announcement of the recovery of these bodies comes four days after a Tunisian judicial official announced that a boat sank on Friday/Saturday night off the coast of the Tunisian governorate of Sfax and the loss of about 20 African immigrants among its passengers while trying to sneak into the Italian coast.

Recently, there has been a significant increase in illegal immigration attempts from the Tunisian coast, which extends for 1,300 kilometers, towards the Italian island of Lampedusa.

This Italian island, which illegal immigrants usually choose as the first stop for their cruise, is the closest point to the Tunisian shores, only about 80 kilometers away.

Last Monday, Italian news reports said that about a thousand illegal immigrants had arrived last Sunday to the island of "Lampedusa" on boats they sailed from the Tunisian and Libyan coasts.

According to data published by the Italian Ministry of the Interior earlier, more than 28,000 illegal immigrants arrived in Italy by boat since the beginning of the year until last Monday.

Faced with this situation, the Italian authorities announced yesterday, Tuesday, the imposition of a state of emergency for a period of six months, with the aim of addressing the phenomenon of the increasing arrival of large numbers of illegal immigrants to the Italian coasts.