At least 39 migrants drowned from Tunisia when two boats capsized, the Ministry of Defense said, as the numbers who were dangerous to cross into Europe continued to rise.
Rescuers pulled 165 survivors of the founding boats to safety on Tuesday.
Defense Ministry spokesman Mohamed Zekri later said the search had been “temporarily suspended due to night and bad weather”.
It was not immediately clear what caused both boats to capsize, but vessels leaving the North African coast for Europe are often heavily overloaded, improvised vessels, and depart at night even in rough weather to prevent the Coast Guard from being detected. .
According to the Ministry of Defense, 39 bodies were found, while Houcem Eddine Jebabli, spokesperson for the Tunisian national guard, said at least nine women and four children had been killed.
According to authorities, the boats left the shore overnight with mainly migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, who wanted to reach Europe, but the coastguard saw it.
Last year, there was a surge of improvised boats that wanted to cross the central Mediterranean, the deadliest route for prospective migrants to Europe.
Such vessels sailed to sea almost daily this year, despite frequent bad weather.
“Departure has continued to increase,” said Romdhane Ben Amor of the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights.
Since the beginning of 2021, 94 migrating boats have been intercepted, according to a count by its organization, compared to 47 in the same period in 2020.
Meanwhile, 1,736 people have been arrested for attempting to cross, roughly double the number in the same period last year.
Between 1 January and 7 March, according to the UN refugee agency, 5,685 migrants arrived illegally by sea off the Italian coast, including more than 1,500 via Tunisia and 3,500 via neighboring Libya.
The figures are more than double those of the same period last year.
Among the illegal arrivals in Italy during 2020, Tunisian citizens were the largest national contingent, numbering 12,000, UNHCR said.
But many foreign nationals have also used Tunisia as a starting point for Europe.
According to the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights, since the beginning of 2021, more than half of the migrants arrested in Tunisia’s waters came from sub-Saharan Africa.
Tunisia was hit by an economic crisis and high unemployment even before the coronavirus pandemic.
“Job losses, dire circumstances affecting Tunisians have hit foreign migrant communities even harder; many have lost their jobs, ”said Matt Herbert of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.
“For some migrants settled in Tunisia, the migration to Europe is a decision they already have in mind.”
According to the UN, at least 252 migrants have died in the Mediterranean since 1 January and about 1,200 have died last year.