Tunisia: 1,500 migration attempts thwarted since January

Tunisian border policemen control a driver’s documents at the north-western Tabarka border post with Algeria, on the first day of its reopening on July 15, 202 [FETHI BELAID/AFP via Getty Images]

The National Guard in Tunisia said yesterday that 1,509 attempts to head from the north African state to Italy have been stopped over the past eight months.

National Guards spokesman Hossam El Din El Jabali revealed that since the beginning of the year more than 7,000 attempts made by Tunisians, as well as more than 8,700 attempts by foreigners, have been thwarted.

He added that 299 Tunisian human traffickers and more than 150 Tunisian mediators were arrested, in addition to 18 foreign nationals.

He confirmed that 388 wanted people had been arrested as they tried to escape via water.

In 2021, the Tunisian Ministry of Interior arrested 20,616 migrants, including 10,371 foreigners, most of whom were from sub-Saharan Africa, according to official data.

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