Tunisia –  A group of 32 Gambians and 24 Malians rescued at sea off Tunisia en route to Europe have voluntarily boarded flights home with IOM assistance.

The migrants were part of a group of 97 migrants rescued by the Tunisian navy off Sfax on 26th February 2014. The 97 included four people identified as refugees, ten unaccompanied minors and one woman.

The West Africans, who travelled through Libya, paid smugglers for passage on a small boat, which ran into difficulties in rough seas between Tunisia and Italy.  

The remaining 37 members of the group still in Tunisia, who are not refugees, are expected to voluntarily return home in the coming days. Special procedures and assistance packages will be provided to the ten unaccompanied children.

The number of African migrants trying to reach southern Europe by sea, often in overcrowded, unseaworthy boats, continues to rise. During April 2014, some 4,000 migrants have been rescued at sea by the Italian navy as the exodus from Libya continues.

IOM Tunisia has also received a growing number of requests for assisted voluntary return from migrants rescued at sea – 362 in the past two years.

With the weather improving, IOM is concerned that more migrants will risk their lives trying to reach Europe in the coming months. It will continue to work in close cooperation with the Tunisian authorities, countries of origin and partners, including the Tunisian Red Crescent and UNHCR, to save lives and find sustainable solutions.

In 2013, complementing the later established European Commission Task Force Mediterranean, IOM launched NOAH, an inter-agency task force designed to address irregular migratory movements to, through and from North Africa through a multi-faceted and comprehensive approach for countries of origin, transit and destination; and to ensure the protection of people on the move.  

For more information, please contact

Lorena Lando at IOM Tunis
Email: llando@iom.int
Tel. +216. 71 860 312