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Tunisia detains 2 Egyptian fishing boats in its territorial waters

January 2, 2021 at 12:50 pm

A young Egyptian fisherman pulls his net in the River Nile, south of the Egyptian capital Cairo, on 13 November 2019 [KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images]

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced that two Egyptian fishing boats have been detained in Tunisia after they illegally entered Tunisian territorial waters.

In a statement published on Thursday evening, the ministry pointed out that the Egyptian boats’ movements prompted the Tunisian authorities to seize and take them to the naval base in the city of Sfax.

Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Consular Affairs and Egyptians Abroad Amr Mahmoud Abbas confirmed that, in coordination with the embassy in Tunis, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry is following up the developments of the detained fishermen to ensure their safety and the progress of investigations. In addition, the ministry is coordinating with the Tunisian authorities to take measures to return both detainees to their homeland.

Abbas called on Egyptian fishermen to refrain from entering territorial waters of other countries, out of respect for their sovereignty, and with the aim of avoiding exposure to the laws of these countries.

This incident comes after the Tunisian state detained 17 Egyptian fishermen, who attempted to illegally carry out fishing activities in Tunisia’s territorial waters last December.

Read: Tunisia detains another 28 Egyptians fishing in its waters