In a statement issued on Tuesday 19 July, the Tunisian National Guard announced that it had rescued more than 450 migrants during several operations off the northern, eastern, and southern coasts of the country on Sunday night.

The statement mentioned that “as part of the fight against irregular immigration, units of the national guard in the north, centre, east, and south, have thwarted 37 attempts to cross the maritime borders.” 289 of the rescued people are from sub-Saharan Africa while the others are Tunisian.

It is worth noting that, since the beginning of the current year, no less than 1,200 people have died in the central Mediterranean, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).