At least 13 Tunisians are missing after a migrant boat capsized off Tunisia while attempting to reach Italy, a local human rights group said on Saturday.
The vessel departed early on Thursday before sinking in the Mediterranean, according to Mostafa Abdelkebir, head of the Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights.
Two people were rescued. One survivor told rescuers aboard a local boat that they had spent hours stranded at sea after the vessel overturned, while the second survivor was reported to be in critical condition.
Search efforts were continuing for the missing passengers.
Tunisia has long been one of the main departure points for migrants and asylum seekers attempting the dangerous Mediterranean crossing to Europe, although departures have fallen sharply over the past two years following tighter maritime controls and a government crackdown on irregular migration.
European governments, particularly Italy, have provided funding and border-monitoring equipment to Tunisia as part of efforts to reduce crossings across the central Mediterranean.
The cooperation has drawn criticism from human rights organisations. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and dozens of other groups said last month that the European Union’s migration partnership with Tunisia had contributed to what they described as serious abuses against migrants and asylum seekers.
The organisations urged the EU to suspend funding for migration and border-control operations involving Tunisian security forces.
Tunisian authorities have not responded to that statement but have repeatedly said the country is facing intense pressure from migration flows originating elsewhere in Africa.
President Kais Saied has previously claimed that irregular migration poses a demographic threat to Tunisia, remarks that have drawn widespread criticism from rights groups.
The central Mediterranean remains one of the world’s deadliest migration routes, with thousands of people from Africa and the Middle East attempting the journey toward Europe each year, frequently aboard overcrowded and poorly equipped vessels.