TUNISIA’S coast guard has rescued 48 Tunisian migrants whose boat began sinking as they tried to reach Italy by sea, said the Interior Ministry today.

A patrol spotted the vessel last night off Jebeniana, 210km south of Tunis. 

The 9m craft “was sinking after taking on water”, the ministry said in a statement.

The passengers were all Tunisians aged between 16 and 40, from the governorates of Medenine and Sfax, it added.

Tunisians regularly try to cross the Mediterranean to seek a better future in Europe, with departures peaking last September.

According to civil society organisations, the uptick reflected frustration among young people hard hit by unemployment.

Last October, a collision between a migrant boat and a Tunisian military ship left at least 44 dead, in what Prime Minister Youssef Chahed called a “national disaster”. – AFP, February 17, 2018.