Recently this Tuesday, two boats sank off Tunisia as they tried to cross the Meditteranean to the Italian island of Lampedusa.

At least 39 migrants died and 165 others were rescued by the coastguard, and the search for more survivors is still going on. Ministry spokesman Mohamed Zekri said, "All the dead migrants were from sub-Saharan Africa." 

The coastline near the Tunisian port city of Sfax has become a major departure point for people fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa and the Middle East and seeking a better life in Europe. 

In November 2020, at least 74 migrants died in a “devastating” shipwreck off the Libyan coast. In December 2020, around 20 African migrants were found dead after their boat capsized, which was trying to reach Europe, and sank in the Mediterranean Sea.

The number of Tunisian migrants landing on Italian shores soared fivefold to 13,000 in 2020, a human rights group said, attributing the rise to economic hardship in Tunisia.