At least 20 migrants missing after boat drowns off Tunisian coast, 17 rescued

At least 20 migrants have gone missing off the coast of Tunisia, as they tried to cross the treacherous Mediterranean to Italy, the judicial officials informed on Saturday. The authorities said their boat sank while trying to

Although the coast guard managed to rescue 17 others from the same boat off the southern city of Sfax, the others were still untraceable. Of the 17 saved, two are in critical condition, said Sfax court judge Faouzi Masmousdi.

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Recent months have seen a great influx of migrants using Tunisia as the main departure point to enter Europe. earlier most migrants attempting to leave the conflict-ridden zones of Africa and the Middle East used to take the Libya route to enter the continent.

Notably, Tunisia's coast lies just 150 kilometres (90 miles) from the Italian island of Lampedusa which makes it a lucrative option for the migrants to take the additional risk.

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Over 14,000 migrants have been either intercepted or rescued in the first three months of the year trying to enter Europe. The number is five times the figures recorded during the same period last year.

“Coast guard patrols prevent 501 clandestine attempts to cross the maritime border and rescued 14,406 [refugees] including 13,138 from sub-Saharan African countries,” informed the government.

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Notably, this is not the first instance when an illegal boat crossing has gone awry for the migrants. Earlier this year, the Tunisian authorities discovered a sunken boat with 14 dead bodies while rescuing 54.

"Coast guard patrols intercepted a group whose boat had sunk, rescuing 54 people of various sub-Saharan African nationalities, and recovering 14 bodies," read a statement released at the time.

However, seeing the large influx of migrants,Tunisia President Kais Saied in February ordered officials to take "urgent measures" to tackle irregular migration, claiming that "a criminal plot" was underway to change Tunisia's demography.

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Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar pleaded the international community that hiscountry needed funding and equipment to better protect its borders.

(With inputs from agencies)

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