At least 13 Sudanese asylum seekers drown after boat capsizes off Tunisia

At least 13 Sudanese asylum seekers have died after their boat capsized off the coast of Tunisia, with 27 people still missing, a Tunisian judicial official said on Thursday.

The boat was carrying 42 people, all of them Sudanese, and two people were rescued, Al Jazeera reported, adding that they were likely “exploited in a human trafficking case or in the formation of a criminal group to reach Europe illegally”.

More than 1.5 million people have fled across Sudan’s borders to the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan in the wake of devastating battles over power between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Tunisia and Libya are the main departure points for thousands of people fleeing conflict and poverty from other parts of Africa and the Middle East who risk their lives to reach Europe.