19th and 24th Tunisia’s coastguard recovered 70 bodies from the Mediterranean sea. Less than a week earlier, 25 migrants died in the country’s waters. After a period of decline between 2016 and 2019, the number of people travelling from north African countries to Italy or Malta is on the rise again. A growing proportion depart from Tunisia. , which was just over 30,000 . Why is there a surge of migrants leaving from Tunisia?through and from north Africa to escape persecution and poverty.
But those huge numbers prompted European governments to try to close the route. In 2017, as part of a widerstrategy, Italy agreed to invest in Libya if the country stepped up its border control. As part of the deal, Italy’s government began, which is in fact mostly made up of militias independent of the government. Since then the number of people reaching Italy from Libya has fallen by 55%. The coastguard intercepts tens of thousands each year.
Those returned to shore also face mistreatment by the Libyan authorities. Some have reported torture and rape in detention centres. Migrants began to look for other routes. By 2020 the share of sea-borne migrants to Italy who had embarked in Libya had fallen to less than 40%; Tunisia had become the main point of departure.
But Tunisia is not just a transit country; a growing minority of those leaving its shores are Tunisian nationals. In 2016 Tunisians accounted for less than 4% of arrivals in Italy; by 2022 they were 18%, the second largest single group by nationality. The economy has been weak since 2015. Annual inflation hit 10% at the end of 2022; unemployment has been at around 15% or higher for more than a decade. The pandemic dealt a heavy economic blow, too.
On April 11th Italy’s right-wing government declared a state of emergency in response to the crisis which will make it easier for the country to repatriate migrants. Mr Saied is not doing much to allay Europe’s concerns: he recently rejected a proposed bailout from the, arguing that meddling by foreign “diktats” would lead to more poverty in Tunisia.