At least 13 Tunisians are missing after a migrant boat sank off ​the Tunisian coast while sailing towards Italy, and two ‌people were rescued, the head of a migrant rights group said on Saturday.

The boat set off early on Thursday, Mostafa Abdelkebir, the head of the ​Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights, told Reuters.

One of the ​two survivors told rescuers in a local boat they had ⁠been stranded at sea for hours after their vessel capsized. ​The second survivor was in critical condition, said Abdelkebir, whose group ​monitors migration issues.

Tunisia was once a major departure point for migrants crossing the Mediterranean, but departures have fallen sharply over the past two years amid ​a crackdown and tighter maritime controls, backed by European funding and ​modern border-monitoring equipment, particularly from Italy.

Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and dozens of ‌other ⁠human rights and humanitarian groups said in a statement last month that the EU-Tunisia migration deal had fuelled and normalised serious abuses against migrants and asylum seekers in Tunisia.

The groups called on ​the EU to ​suspend funding for ⁠migration and border-control activities involving Tunisian security forces.

Tunisia has not commented on the statement but has ​repeatedly said it is bearing the brunt of a ​major ⁠migration influx. President Kais Saied said in 2023 that the influx was aimed at changing the country's demographic makeup.

The central Mediterranean route is ⁠one ​of the world's deadliest migration routes, used ​by migrants from Africa and the Middle East seeking to reach Europe, often in ​overcrowded or unseaworthy boats.

Source: Reuters

--Agencies