- Families protest in Tunis
- Search operations stalled
- Missing at sea mystery
The families of 37 Tunisians who vanished at sea from El Hancha, close to Sfax, have protested in the capital against what they perceive to be the government’s official reticence regarding their loved ones.
Relatives of the 13- to 35-year-olds who went missing reported receiving phone calls from family members on board the vessel at approximately 2:30 p.m. on 11 January.
“Hancha as a whole is miserable”
In the aftermath of the disappearance, the Tunisian coastguard, with the assistance of teams from Italy and Malta, has conducted exhaustive searches.
However, search operations seem to have stalled, as the most recent official statement regarding the matter was published in mid-January via press release.
On Tuesday in Tunis, families including Fatma Jlaiel, whose 25-year-old sibling Ali is missing, visited the Syndicat National des Journalistes Tunisiens in an attempt to bypass officials and present their case directly to the media.
The government has not communicated with us,” said Fatma Jlaiel, whose sibling Ali, 25, is among the missing.
“El Hancha is miserable in its entirety,” she declared to a translator. “In the street, the only thing that can be heard are inquiries regarding current events or conjectures. An acquaintance of yours is hollow-eyed.
“Our mothers are ill at this time.” We monitor their blood pressure and glucose levels continuously. They are in anguish.
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Families Take on Investigation Role
“One month will have passed since the boat vanished,” she predicted. “Although we have been receiving sporadic bits of information, the majority of the work is being performed independently.” “We are conducting the investigations that are the responsibility of the police,” she stated.
Ali was among tens of thousands of Tunisians who attempted one of the world’s most dangerous migration routes without papers.
His sibling Mohammed stated that his most recent employment was as a nighttime security guard in Sfax, located approximately 50 kilometres (30 miles) away, because he was unable to secure consistent employment at home. Mohammed added that the meagre wages barely covered coffee and cigarettes.
Conjecture Amidst the lack of authoritative data, an assortment of conjectures are gaining traction. This is among a populace destitute of information and eager for updates on kin.
Speculations and Investigations Continue
Relatives have disregarded wildfire speculations that the vessel capsized off the coast of Kerkennah, in close proximity to Sfax, the primary entry point for irregular migration into the country, on the grounds that incriminating evidence is lacking.
El Hancha clans have rejected alternative ideas like the vessel being redirected to Greece.
Similarly, Tunisians residing in Italy have engaged the services of attorneys to assist authorities in their inspection of detention centres that frequently house irregular arrivals.
Italian prosecutor Salvatore Vella, who specializes in undocumented migration, emphasized that he was unaware of the case. Vella further stated that it was improbable that the Tunisians who vanished had arrived in Italy.
“Upon arrival, Tunisians typically contact their families immediately,” he explained. The fact that they had not done so was not encouraging, he stated.
El Hancha families, who refuse to acknowledge the possibility that their loved ones have gone missing at sea, continue to find the distant 320 kilometres (200 miles) of Libya an ever more alluring prospect.
For an extended period, armed groups originating from western Libya have engaged in the trade of captured refugees for labour. Frequently, they apprehend convoys of undocumented Black migrants attempting to enter the country and transport them to detention centres. Reports indicate that the conditions there are atrocious.
According to Italian news agency Nova, deputy for the Libyan coastal town of Zawiya Ali Buzriba, no Tunisian vessels had entered the region in the days following El Hancha’s departure, citing the unusually rough seas at the time.
Additionally, Libya’s Stability Support Apparatus maritime division director didn’t know where the vessel was. This was according to Buzriba, who stated that he had contacted him.
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