On Thursday, the Tunisian National Guard announced that Tunisia had foiled 88 attempts by illegal immigrants to cross the Mediterranean to Italy in the last three days.
According to the statement, the Tunisian coastguard foiled these illegal immigration attempts off the country’s coasts between 2 and 4 October and rescued 1,131 illegal immigrants from sinking during the operations.
“Among the illegal immigrants, 543 are of various African nationalities and the rest are Tunisian nationals,” the statement said.
According to officials, Tunisian security authorities launched a security campaign in the southeastern province of Sfax a few weeks ago to tackle the problem of illegal immigration.
This initiative, led by Tunisian President Kais Saied, is aimed at halting the unacceptable increase in illegal immigration.
The campaign comes as the Sfax coast has become a major departure point for illegal immigrants trying to reach the Italian island of Lampedusa.
Official reports show that the island of Lampedusa, just 80 km from the Tunisian coast, is often chosen by immigrants as the first stop on their journey to Italy.
