Migrants stranded for weeks off Tunisia were finally allowed to enter the country

Tunisian authorities in the city of Zarzis, southeastern Tunisia, have finally accepted to receive a rescue boat carrying 75 migrants, including a Moroccan national, that has been stranded off the country for three weeks, the Red Crescent told Reuters on Wednesday.

These migrants were rescued by an Egyptian boat in the Tunisian waters. The boat, which was stranded 25 km from the coastal city of Zarzis, was not allowed to disembark after migrants were told that the city’s migrant centers were packed.

«After they were stranded for three weeks at sea in difficult conditions, Tunisia agreed to dock the ship, and migrants accepted to return to their countries in coming days», Red Crescent official Mongi Slim told Reuters.

The boat carries 64 Bangladeshis, a migrant from Morocco and others from Sudan and Egypt, the Red Crescent said.

«We thank Tunisia’s renewed commitment to life and dignity», the head of the International Organization for Migration in Tunisia Lorena Lando told the press agency.

During the first four months of 2019, 164 people died while trying to reach Europe through the Mediterranean Sea route.