Rescue teams desperately sought survivors on Sunday after two boats carrying migrants sank off the Italian island of Lampedusa. Italy’s Ansa news agency said survivors described how the two boats carrying people trying to illegally enter the European Union had set off from the Tunisian port of Sfax on Saturday. Most had been rescued by the coastguard and by various charities from small boats in the Mediterranean Sea. “Whoever allowed them, or forced them, to leave with this sea is an unscrupulous criminal lunatic,” he said. Many migrants have sought refuge from conflicts in Syria and turbulence in Afghanistan while others have left nations including Nigeria, Pakistan, and Iraq.

Source: The North Africa Journal August 06, 2023 17:12 UTC