Around 40 migrants missing after boat capsizes between Italy and Tunisia

In another migrant shipwreck incident, around 40 people are missing after their boat capsized off the Italian island of Lampedusa, the UN said on Friday.

The United Nations agency released a statement saying that the survivors, who were from sub-Saharan Africa, arrived in Lampedusa on Thursday after they were rescued from the shipwreck by another vessel.

As per the news agency AFP, UNHCR representative to Italy, Chiara Cardoletti, said that at least one newborn baby was among those missing in the incident.

The vessel, which departed from Sfax in Tunisia for Italy, had 46 migrants on board, said Flavio Di Giacomo, a spokesman for the UN migration agency IOM.

He said that the boat capsized due to high waves and strong winds.

"Some survivors were taken to Lampedusa and others were brought back to Tunisia," he said.

"Among those missing were seven women and a minor. The survivors are all adult men," he added. 

"We have noticed more arrivals of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa than Tunisians via the Tunisian route since November," he said.

He explained this was due to people from sub-Saharan Africa fleeing discrimination in Tunisia.

"It is unacceptable to continue counting the dead at the gates of Europe," Cardoletti said.

Earlier, at least 14 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa drowned off the coast of Tunisia in the month of March.

The Tunisian authorities said that they discovered a sunken boat from which they rescued 54 people of various sub-Saharan African nationalities. The authorities had recovered 14 dead bodies from the spot. 

"Coast guard patrols last night intercepted a group whose boat had sunk, rescuing 54 people of various sub-Saharan African nationalities, and recovering 14 bodies," the authority said in a statement.

Earlier this year, Tunisia President Kais Saied ordered officials to take "urgent measures" to tackle irregular migration, claiming that "a criminal plot" was underway to change Tunisia's demography. He claimed that migrants were behind most crime in the North African country.

Tunisia, whose coast lies just 150 kilometres (90 miles) from the Italian island of Lampedusa, has long been a transit for people fleeing war and poverty elsewhere in Africa, often on boats.

Tunisia reportedly hosts around 21,000 undocumented migrants from other parts of Africa, less than 0.2 per cent of the population.

Rome said in February that more than 32,000 migrants, including 18,000 Tunisians, reached Italy from Tunisia last year, while thousands more have departed from neighbouring Libya.