After their boat was damaged while attempting to reach Europe from Libya, over 250 migrants, the great majority from Bangladesh, were transported to the port of Ben Guerdane in southern Tunisia.
The migrants were transferred to a hotel on the island of Djerba, to spend the mandatory quarantine period after they were rescued by the Tunisian navy coastguard.
After being rescued by the Tunisian naval coastguard, the migrants were sent to a hotel on the island of Djerba to complete the necessary quarantine period.
On its southern shores, Tunisia has recorded regular migrant rescue operations, particularly along the sea route between Libya and the Italian island of Lampedusa.
Hundreds of illegal migrants’ bodies have been recorded washed up on Tunisia’s southern coastlines after drowning in the Mediterranean Sea over the last seven years.
Since the January 2011 revolution, illegal immigration through Tunisia has surged, mainly due to the insecurity that prevailed at the time.
At least 700 people have died trying to cross the central Mediterranean this year, up until May 17, the UN’s refugee agency UNHCR said.
Numbers leaving Libya have also increased significantly, with 11,000 departures from January to April 2021, over 70 percent more than in the same period last year, according to UNHCR.