At least 13 Tunisians missing as migrant boat headed for Italy capsizes

By Al Jazeera Staff and Reuters.

Key points

• The Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights has previously estimated that regarding 10, 000 Tunisians have gone missing at sea attempting to cross to Europe since 2011.
• The International Organization for Migration estimates that more than 35, 000 individuals have gone missing in the Mediterranean since 2014.
• In July, 46 rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, issued a joint statement criticising the EU's 2023 accord with Tunisia to curb migration.
• It set off early on Thursday, Mostafa Abdelkebir, the head of the Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights, stated on Saturday.
• At least 13 Tunisians are missing after a boat carrying migrants sank off the Tunisian coast while sailing towards Italy, according to a migrant rights group.

Two individuals were rescued from the boat. It set off early on Thursday, Mostafa Abdelkebir, the head of the Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights, stated on Saturday.

One of the two survivors informed rescuers on board a local boat that they had been stranded at sea for hours after their vessel capsized. The second survivor was in critical condition, remarked Abdelkebir, whose group monitors migration matters.

Tunisia was once a major departure point for migrants attempting to reach Europe, but the number of individuals attempting the crossing from Tunisia has declined sharply in the last two years against the backdrop of a crackdown and tighter maritime controls backed by the European Union.

Notably, the North African country had additionally been a key departure point for residents from throughout Africa seeking to reach Europe, numerous of them travelling in overcrowded or unseaworthy boats.

For context, the accord provides Tunisia with funding to carry out EU border control in the country, and this has led to "reckless and violent interceptions at sea" of refugees, "collective and summary expulsions", and "fueled and normalized serious human rights violations", the groups stated.

They called on the EU to suspend funding for migration and ⁠border-control activities involving Tunisian security forces.

Notably, the International Organization for Migration estimates that more than 35, 000 individuals have gone missing in the Mediterranean since 2014.

For context, the Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights has previously estimated that regarding 10, 000 Tunisians have gone missing at sea attempting to cross to Europe since 2011.

In short, at least 13 Tunisians missing as migrant boat headed for Italy capsizes is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.