Up to 30 Migrants Feared Dead After Boat Collides With Naval Vessel Off Coast of Tunisia
The number of smuggling boats leaving Libya has dropped dramatically in the last few weeks CREDIT: AFP
Nick Squires, Rome
Telegraph, UK
9 OCTOBER 2017 • 12:04PM
At least eight migrants are feared to have drowned and 20 are missing after their boat collided with a Tunisian navy vessel in the Mediterranean.
The collision happened in the early hours of Monday about 30 miles off the coast of Tunisia. The migrant boat is believed to have left the Tunisian port of Sfax and to have been heading towards Sicily.
The military vessel reportedly approached the fishing boat to identify who was on board when the collision happened.
The Tunisian defence ministry has opened an investigation into the accident. The boat was reportedly carrying around 70 migrants, most of them Tunisians.
Around 40 were rescued from the sea, meaning that 20 or more are still unaccounted for. Maltese and Italian coast guard vessels were dispatched to the area.
The number of boats leaving Tunisia has increased recently – around 1,400 Tunisians reached Italy last month, compared with 1,350 in the first eight months of the year.
The resurgence comes as the flow of migrants and refugees from neighbouring Libya has been drastically reduced through alleged deals between trafficking gangs and the UN-recognised government in Tripoli.
It has been alleged that Italy has in effect bought off trafficking militia in the port city of Sabratha in western Libya, persuading them to stop launching boats full of migrants and refugees.
The allegations have been denied by the Italian government as well as by Fayez al-Sarraj, the Libyan premier. There was no “secret deal” with smuggling gangs, he told the French newspaper Le Monde last week.
“There is an accord with Italy to help Libyan municipalities in the north and south develop the economy and create jobs. But there is no accord of the type you are talking about, that is to say supporting an armed group,” he said.
Stability in Libya was key to fighting people smuggling. “If we don’t succeed, then this flow of migrants will affect Libya and Europe, along with the terrorist organisations trying to infiltrate it,” he said.
Meanwhile, the brother of the Tunisian man who stabbed to death two young women in Marseilles earlier this month was arrested in Italy at the weekend.
Anis Hanachi, the arrested man, is the brother of Ahmed Hanachi, 29, who was shot dead by police following the attack on October 1.
Anis Hanachi, 25, was arrested on Saturday while riding a bicycle in the northern city of Ferrara. Italian police said on Monday that had fought in Syria with jihadist forces. They believe he was responsible for radicalising his elder brother.
Anis arrived in Italy on a smuggling boat in 2014 but was later expelled back to Tunisia. He is now being held on suspicion of complicity in the Marseilles attack carried out by his brother attack and membership of a terrorist group.
He is expected to be extradited to France.
Nick Squires, Rome
Telegraph, UK
9 OCTOBER 2017 • 12:04PM
At least eight migrants are feared to have drowned and 20 are missing after their boat collided with a Tunisian navy vessel in the Mediterranean.
The collision happened in the early hours of Monday about 30 miles off the coast of Tunisia. The migrant boat is believed to have left the Tunisian port of Sfax and to have been heading towards Sicily.
The military vessel reportedly approached the fishing boat to identify who was on board when the collision happened.
The Tunisian defence ministry has opened an investigation into the accident. The boat was reportedly carrying around 70 migrants, most of them Tunisians.
Around 40 were rescued from the sea, meaning that 20 or more are still unaccounted for. Maltese and Italian coast guard vessels were dispatched to the area.
The number of boats leaving Tunisia has increased recently – around 1,400 Tunisians reached Italy last month, compared with 1,350 in the first eight months of the year.
The resurgence comes as the flow of migrants and refugees from neighbouring Libya has been drastically reduced through alleged deals between trafficking gangs and the UN-recognised government in Tripoli.
It has been alleged that Italy has in effect bought off trafficking militia in the port city of Sabratha in western Libya, persuading them to stop launching boats full of migrants and refugees.
The allegations have been denied by the Italian government as well as by Fayez al-Sarraj, the Libyan premier. There was no “secret deal” with smuggling gangs, he told the French newspaper Le Monde last week.
“There is an accord with Italy to help Libyan municipalities in the north and south develop the economy and create jobs. But there is no accord of the type you are talking about, that is to say supporting an armed group,” he said.
Stability in Libya was key to fighting people smuggling. “If we don’t succeed, then this flow of migrants will affect Libya and Europe, along with the terrorist organisations trying to infiltrate it,” he said.
Meanwhile, the brother of the Tunisian man who stabbed to death two young women in Marseilles earlier this month was arrested in Italy at the weekend.
Anis Hanachi, the arrested man, is the brother of Ahmed Hanachi, 29, who was shot dead by police following the attack on October 1.
Anis Hanachi, 25, was arrested on Saturday while riding a bicycle in the northern city of Ferrara. Italian police said on Monday that had fought in Syria with jihadist forces. They believe he was responsible for radicalising his elder brother.
Anis arrived in Italy on a smuggling boat in 2014 but was later expelled back to Tunisia. He is now being held on suspicion of complicity in the Marseilles attack carried out by his brother attack and membership of a terrorist group.
He is expected to be extradited to France.
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