Tunis (AFP) – More than 900 migrants have drowned off Tunisia's coast so far this year as they tried to reach Europe by boat, the North African country's government said Thursday. Tunisia has become a major gateway for irregular migrants and asylum-seekers attempting the perilous sea voyages in often rickety boats in the hopes of a better life in Europe. Xenophobic attacks have repeatedly targeted black African migrants and students, fuelled by incendiary rhetoric from President Kais Saied. Saied -- who rules mostly by decree since a power grab two years ago -- has alleged that "hordes" of sub-Saharan migrants were causing crime and posing a demographic threat to the mainly Arab country. An AFP team in Libya, at Ras Jedir near the Tunisian border, on Wednesday encountered a group of about 140 African migrants who said they had been dumped there by Tunisian authorities.

Source: The North Africa Journal July 27, 2023 22:44 UTC