Tunisian Foreign Minister Discusses Illegal Migration in Italy

Tunisian Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar during a meeting with his Italian counterpart in Rome (AP)
Tunisian Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar during a meeting with his Italian counterpart in Rome (AP)
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Tunisian Foreign Minister Discusses Illegal Migration in Italy

Tunisian Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar during a meeting with his Italian counterpart in Rome (AP)
Tunisian Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar during a meeting with his Italian counterpart in Rome (AP)

Tunisian Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar has discussed the worsening illegal migration crisis with several Italian officials in Rome.

Thursday's visit comes after the Italian cabinet declared a state of emergency to deal with the increasing number of irregular migrants.

Data from the Italian Ministry of the Interior indicates that about 31,300 migrants have arrived since the beginning of 2023.

The Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Taiani, said in a statement carried by Aki news agency that Rome would bring 4,000 trained Tunisian workers.

Taiani added that the goal is to "promote legal migration," adding that combating human traffickers and illegal migration is "essential for Tunisia and Italy.

He asserted that the two countries are serious about their cooperation, and the agreements still in force will be implemented.

The Tunisian Foreign Ministry announced the visit, which came at the invitation of Talani, saying it would be an occasion to discuss ways to address illegal migration according to a comprehensive approach that serves the economic interest of both countries.

It also promotes legal and circular migration and investments and helps create job opportunities for the youth.

The Tunisian coasts are witnessing a record influx of migrants, compared to previous years, towards the Italian shores in search of better opportunities.

The most significant proportion of migrants hails from sub-Saharan African countries, according to data from the Tunisian Naval Forces.

More than 28,000 migrants arrived in Italy this year, according to Italian authorities, compared to 6,900 in the same period last year.

Rome says that Tunis has become the first transit country in the region to its territory this year, ahead of Libya.

Tunisia's coastguard confirmed that it recovered 25 bodies from a shipwreck off Tunisia.

The coastguard stated that a wooden boat packed with about 110 migrants sank on Wednesday off the coast of Sfax, and it recovered the bodies of 14 migrants, including six women from African countries and one Tunisian who was the captain of the boat.

The national guard official, Houssem Eddin Jebabli, announced earlier that the bodies of ten migrants from sub-Saharan African countries had been recovered.

The Maritime Security Units in the Sousse region rescued 14 Tunisians, including five females and nine children. The Maritime Security Units in the Monastir region apprehended six Tunisians preparing for an illegal migration trip to the northern shore of the Mediterranean.

Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that 441 migrants drowned trying to cross the central Mediterranean in the first three months of 2023, the most fatalities in three months since 2017.

According to the organization's Missing Migrants Project, half of those deaths were linked to delays in state-led rescue efforts and, in one case, the absence of any rescue mission.

"Delays in State-led rescues on the Central Mediterranean route were a factor in at least six incidents this year, leading to the deaths of at least 127 people. The complete absence of response to a seventh case claimed the lives of at least 73 migrants," said the organization.

IOM Director General, António Vitorino, said the "persisting humanitarian crisis in the central Mediterranean is intolerable."

According to IOM, the 441 deaths documented in the year's first three months are likely an undercount of lives lost in the Central Mediterranean.

Over the Easter weekend, 3,000 migrants reached Italy, bringing the total number of arrivals this year to 31,192 people.



Red Cross: Gaza Humanitarian Work on 'Verge of Total Collapse'

People look for survivors in the rubble of a building hit in an Israeli strike in the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on May 2, 2025. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)
People look for survivors in the rubble of a building hit in an Israeli strike in the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on May 2, 2025. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)
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Red Cross: Gaza Humanitarian Work on 'Verge of Total Collapse'

People look for survivors in the rubble of a building hit in an Israeli strike in the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on May 2, 2025. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)
People look for survivors in the rubble of a building hit in an Israeli strike in the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on May 2, 2025. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)

The Red Cross warned Friday that the humanitarian response in Gaza was on the "verge of total collapse" after two months of Israel blocking aid to the war-torn Palestinian territory.

"Without an immediate resumption of aid deliveries, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will not have access to the food, medicines, and life-saving supplies needed to sustain many of its programs in Gaza," AFP quoted it as saying in a statement.

Israel strictly controls all inflows of international aid vital for the 2.4 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

It halted aid deliveries to Gaza on March 2, days before the collapse of a ceasefire that had significantly reduced hostilities after 15 months of war.

Since the start of the blockade, the United Nations has repeatedly warned of the humanitarian catastrophe on the ground, with famine again looming.

"Civilians in Gaza are facing an overwhelming daily struggle to survive the dangers of hostilities, cope with relentless displacement, and endure the consequences of being deprived of urgent humanitarian assistance," Pascal Hundt, ICRC Deputy Director of Operations said in Friday's statement.

"This situation must not —- and cannot -— be allowed to escalate further."

ICRC stressed that under international humanitarian law, "Israel has an obligation to use all means available to ensure that the basic needs of the civilian population under its control are met".

"If the blockage continues, programs such as the ICRC common kitchens — which often provide the only meal people receive each day — will only be able to operate for a few more weeks," it warned.

The UN's World Food Program (WFP) said a week ago that it had sent out its "last remaining food stocks" to kitchens.

ICRC cautioned that the field hospital it runs in Gaza was also "running dangerously low on food and medical supplies, with some essential medicines and consumables already exhausted".

"Disruption to water systems, including the closure of water pipelines and destruction of critical sewage trucks, has created an unacceptably high risk of waterborne diseases," it said.

This dire situation was compounded by repeated attacks impacting the work of healthcare facilities and personnel, ICRC said.