File photo: Migrants on a wooden boat are rescued by a patrol vessel of the Tunisia Navy, seen from the migrant search and rescue vessel MV Seefuchs of the German NGO Sea-Eye in the search and rescue zone south of the Al Jurf Oilfield in international waters off the coast of Libya. Reuters
File photo: Migrants on a wooden boat are rescued by a patrol vessel of the Tunisia Navy, seen from the migrant search and rescue vessel MV Seefuchs of the German NGO Sea-Eye in the search and rescue zone south of the Al Jurf Oilfield in international waters off the coast of Libya. Reuters
File photo: Migrants on a wooden boat are rescued by a patrol vessel of the Tunisia Navy, seen from the migrant search and rescue vessel MV Seefuchs of the German NGO Sea-Eye in the search and rescue zone south of the Al Jurf Oilfield in international waters off the coast of Libya. Reuters
File photo: Migrants on a wooden boat are rescued by a patrol vessel of the Tunisia Navy, seen from the migrant search and rescue vessel MV Seefuchs of the German NGO Sea-Eye in the search and rescue

MENA

Europe-bound migrants drown off Tunisia

Two women from Niger survive and are rescued by authorities off Tunisian port

Soraya Ebrahimi
Soraya Ebrahimi

May 13, 2021

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At least 17 migrants drowned as a boat sank off Tunisia, the International Organisation for Migration said on Thursday, quoting two survivors who were rescued near an oil platform.

The IOM said the boat left on Tuesday from the port of Zwara in Libya, a key gateway for Europe-bound migrants mostly from sub-Saharan Africa.

Two women from Niger survived and were rescued by authorities off the Tunisian port of Sfax and taken to hospital, the IOM said.

It said more than 500 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean from the shores of North Africa to Italy and Malta since the start of 2021.

So far this year, about 13,000 migrants have landed in Italy, up from about 4,200 in the same period of 2020 and and 1,100 in 2019.

On Tuesday, Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi said during a visit to Portugal that his country was opposed to setting up centres to take in migrants trying to cross to Europe.

Mr Mechichi said Tunisia, which is dealing with social and political crises, "is not ready at all to accept citizens of other countries".

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Key findings of Jenkins report
  • Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
  • Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
  • Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
  • Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
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Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.

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