Thousands of people have died since 2014 trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea and reach Europe.
Published On 22 Aug 202622 Aug 2026
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Updated: 2 hours agoUpdated: 2 hours ago
At least 14 people are missing after a boat carrying migrants sank off the Tunisian coast while sailing towards Italy, according to an official.
Houcem Eddine Jebabli, Tunisian National Guard spokesman speaking to Mosaique FM radio, said the boat sank 14 nautical miles off the coast of Zarzis overnight Friday to Saturday, and that one person had been rescued so far.
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The national guard did not say whether there were any confirmed deaths.
Mostafa Abelkebir, Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights president, posted on Facebook that four bodies had been found but it remained unclear if they belonged to missing passengers of the boat.
One survivor told rescuers on board a local boat that they had been stranded at sea for hours after their vessel capsized. Abdelkebir, whose group monitors migration issues, said a second survivor was in critical condition.
Tunisia was once a major departure point for migrants attempting to reach Europe, but the number of people attempting the crossing from Tunisia has declined sharply in the past two years amid a crackdown and tighter maritime controls supported by the European Union.
The North African country had also been a key departure point for people from across Africa seeking to reach Europe, many of them travelling in overcrowded or unseaworthy boats.
Tunisia-EU deal faces criticism
In July, 46 rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, issued a joint statement criticising the EU’s 2023 deal with Tunisia to curb migration.
The deal provides Tunisia with funding to carry out EU border control in the country, and this has led to “reckless and violent interceptions at sea” of refugees, “collective and summary expulsions”, and “fueled and normalized serious human rights violations”, the groups said.
They called on the EU to suspend funding for migration and border-control activities involving Tunisian security forces.
The International Organization for Migration estimates that more than 35,000 people have gone missing in the Mediterranean since 2014.
The Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights has previously estimated that about 10,000 Tunisians have gone missing at sea attempting to cross to Europe since 2011.