A record 1,313 migrants were reported to have died or went missing off the Tunisian coast last year, a rights group said on Tuesday, highlighting the worsening migrant crisis in the North Africa country.
Tunisian coast guards try to stop migrants at sea during their attempt to cross to Italy, off the coast off Sfax, Tunisia, Reuters/Jihed Abidellaoui
A record 1,313 migrants were reported to have died or went missing off the Tunisian coast last year, a rights group said on Tuesday, highlighting the worsening migrant crisis in the North Africa country.
The number represented about 75% of the number of dead or missing off the coasts of Italy, Libya and Malta, Ramadan Ben Amor, an official at the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights told Reuters.
Tunisia has replaced Libya as north Africa's main departure point for people fleeing poverty and conflict elsewhere in Africa and across the Middle East in the hope of a better life in Europe.
And with improving weather since January, the influx of African migrants, including Tunisians, in boats heading for Italy has increased.
About 100 migrants have died or gone missing off the Tunisian coast since mid-January.
Reporting by Tarek Amara
In a significant diplomatic milestone, Morocco has secured a major victory on the international stage with the United Nations Security Council endorsing its autonomy plan for Western Sahara, a move widely seen as a major setback for Algeria, which has long supported the separatist Polisario Front.
In a landmark diplomatic victory for Morocco and a stinging setback for Algeria, the United Nations Security Council on Friday adopted a resolution endorsing autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty as the most viable path toward resolving the decades-old conflict in Western Sahara.
Tunisian authorities on Friday ordered the suspension of the Nawaat journalists' group, which runs one of the country’s leading independent investigative media outlets, in a widening crackdown on free speech and civil society.
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