The Tunisian Coast Guard on Thursday rescued 264 Bangladeshi nationals while travelling by boat across the Mediterranean hoping to enter Europe via Libya, Ahram Online, the Egyptian media reports.
Tunisian Coast Guard authority said there were 267 people on the boat, three of them were Egyptian citizens. They were stranded on the coast as the boat broke down.
Tunisian administration handed the detainees over to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Red Crescent via Ben Gordon port on the Libyan border.
According to IOM, they had been placed in quarantine at a hotel on Djerba, an island off the coast of Tunisia.
More than 1,000 people have been stranded in Tunisia since January on their way to Europe via Libya and the number is increasing day by day, IMO said.
According to a UN figure, from January to April 2021, a total of 11,000 aspiring migrants tried to enter Europe via Libya. This time the number is 70 per cent more than last year.
The IOM believes that migrants are risking their lives because of the fragile situation in Libya.
On the other hand, the Red Crescent says Tunisia's refugee camps are full to the brim.
