Tunisian authorities said on Friday that their naval forces rescued 47 illegal immigrants from drowning in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
The Tunisian Marine Guard said, in a statement, that after its forces received an urgent report about a number of illegal boats breaking down at sea and water leaking into them, which were carrying a group of illegal Tunisian immigrants, including a pregnant woman and a baby, they turned to their rescue and were able to return them to the coast. No drownings were recorded among them, pointing out that they were transferred to the security authorities for investigation, and legal measures were taken against them on charges of surreptitiously crossing the maritime border.
For years, the Tunisian coasts have witnessed a large influx of illegal immigrants wishing to reach the southern coasts of European Union (EU) countries, and these operations resulted in the drowning of thousands of people, according to statistics from the International Organization for Migration (IO
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Source: Qatar News Agency
