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Tunisia Rescues over 14,000 Illegal Migrants in 2023

Illegal migrants are rescued by the Tunisian coast guard. (AFP)
Illegal migrants are rescued by the Tunisian coast guard. (AFP)
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Tunisia Rescues over 14,000 Illegal Migrants in 2023

Illegal migrants are rescued by the Tunisian coast guard. (AFP)
Illegal migrants are rescued by the Tunisian coast guard. (AFP)

Tunisian authorities announced on Friday they have rescued more than 14,000 illegal migrants attempting to reach Europe during the first quarter of 2023.

The Tunisian National Guard said on Friday that from January 1 to March 31, 2023, it thwarted 501 operations to cross the Mediterranea and rescued 14,406 migrants, including 13,138 from sub-Saharan African countries.

The others were Tunisians, it added.

Hossam El-Din El-Jababli, a spokesman for the National Guard, told AFP that these figures are fivefold higher compared to the first quarter of 2022 when “2,532 people were rescued in 172 operations.”

According to Jababli, 1,657 out of them were from sub-Saharan Africa.

The Coast Guard in the central region, which covers the areas of Sfax and Mahdia, thwarted during the first quarter of 2023 388 attempts to illegally cross the sea and rescued 13,259.

The Coast Guards arrested 63 people and seized 135 boats and 12 vehicles used in the illegal operations.

Some Tunisian shores are less than 150 km away from Lampedusa Island and often witness attempts by illegal migrants, mostly from Sub-Saharan Africa, to reach Italy.

Dozens of migrants drowned in a string of incidents in March.

On Feb. 21, President Kais Saied spoke of "hordes of illegal migrants" whose presence in Tunisia he called a source of "violence and crimes” with the aim of “changing Tunisia’s demographic composition”.

Hundreds of migrants were deported by their embassies, following Saied’s remarks, but many expressed concerns about returning home and called on the UN to organize flights to safe third countries.

According to the Italian interior ministry, more than 14,000 migrants have landed in Italy since the start of the year, compared to over 5,300 during the same period last year and 4,300 in 2021.

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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah

Cyprus stands ready to help eliminate Syria’s remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and to support a search for people whose fate remains unknown after more than a decade of war, the top Cypriot diplomat said Saturday.

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Cyprus’ offer is grounded on its own past experience both with helping rid Syria of chemical weapons 11 years ago and its own ongoing, decades-old search for hundreds of people who disappeared amid fighting between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s and a 1974 Turkish invasion, The AP reported.

Cyprus in 2013 hosted the support base of a mission jointly run by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to remove and dispose of Syria's chemical weapons.

“As a neighboring country located just 65 miles from Syria, Cyprus has a vested interest in Syria’s future. Developments there will directly impact Cyprus, particularly in terms of potential new migratory flows and the risks of terrorism and extremism,” Kombos told The AP in written replies to questions.

Kombos said there are “profound concerns” among his counterparts across the region over Syria’s future security, especially regarding a possible resurgence of extremist groups like ISIS in a fragmented and polarized society.

“This is particularly critical in light of potential social and demographic engineering disguised as “security” arrangements, which could further destabilize the country,” Kombos said.

The diplomat also pointed to the recent proliferation of narcotics production like the stimulant Captagon that is interconnected with smuggling networks involved in people and arms trafficking.

Kombos said ongoing attacks against Syria’s Kurds must stop immediately, given the role that Kurdish forces have played in combating extremist forces like the ISIS group in the past decade.

Saleh Muslim, a member of the Kurdish Presidential Council, said in an interview that the Kurds primarily seek “equality” enshrined in rights accorded to all in any democracy.

He said a future form of governance could accord autonomy to the Kurds under some kind of federal structure.

“But the important thing is to have democratic rights for all the Syrians and including the Kurdish people,” he said.

Muslim warned that the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani, near Syria’s border with Türkiye, is in “very big danger” of falling into the hands of Turkish-backed forces, and accused Türkiye of trying to occupy it.

Kombos said the international community needs to ensure that the influence Türkiye is trying to exert in Syria is “not going to create an even worse situation than there already is.”

“Whatever the future landscape in Syria, it will have a direct and far-reaching impact on the region, the European Union and the broader international community,” Kombos said.