Tunisia’s Defense Ministry said 38 illegal immigrants from several African countries were rescued on May 5 when a boat carrying illegal immigrants capsized 58 kilometers northeast of Tunisia’s Kekena Islands, the Tunisian African News Agency reported.
The rescue operation was carried out in collaboration with the Tunisian National Naval Coordination Search and Rescue Centre and the Italian Rescue Centre, and the rescued illegal immigrants, aged between 20 and 35, including six women, were rescued.
The illegal immigrants claimed that they had set off from the coast of the Kekenna Islands on the night of 4 May in an attempt to sneak into Europe by water.
At present, these illegal immigrants have been taken to the port of Sfax and transferred to the Tunisian National Guard for further processing.
