Migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean took refuge on a Shell oil platform before being handed over to Tunisian authorities on Tuesday. Rescue charities have accused the oil giant of complicity in the 'pullback'.
Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said that ensuring Tunisia's stability was "fundamental also to fighting irregular migration flows" in the Mediterranean.
The Greek and Tunisian coast guards have also reported successful rescue missions. Nonetheless, dozens of people have died in shipwrecks in the Mediterranean over the past several days.
A report presented in Tunis by Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF) and other associations disputes the inclusion of Tunisia in Italy's list of "safe countries of origin."
A new report released by the Tunisian National Institute of Statistics provides an insight into migration trends from Tunisia's perspective. The report found that nearly one in five of those polled, aged 15 and older, said they would like to emigrate.
Ali has boarded a dinghy seven times in an attempt to reach the island of Lampedusa, located about 260 kilometers from the southern Tunisian city of Zarzis. This 27-year-old Tunisian, whose older brother disappeared at sea, remains determined to try his luck again, despite the risks. He tells InfoMigrants his story.
While most migrant journeys across the Mediterranean tend to focus on using the shortest route to the EU, there is a new route opening up to Italy's Calabria region, which only a select few can afford. Criminal gangs meanwhile are making huge profits from exploiting people fleeing persecution.
The NGO Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) has expressed concern for a potential agreement between Tunisia and France to accelerate the expulsion process of Tunisian migrants in an irregular situation.
In the south of Tunisia, fishermen regularly rescue boats full of migrants that are in distress. For them, coming across an overloaded boat has become part of their daily "routine", just like finding dead bodies floating in the water.
The city of Zarzis in southern Tunisia takes care of the vast majority of the bodies of migrants that wash up on various beaches in the south of the country. This unanticipated service has created a burden for the small municipality that says it lacks the means.
Thousands of migrants have arrived in Tunisia from neighbouring Libya in recent years. Often picked up at sea by the Tunisian coast guard after leaving Libyan beaches, they hope to quickly cross from Tunisia to Europe. But they all come up against the economic reality of the country. Due to a lack of work and income, they cannot pay the smugglers and find themselves "trapped" in the country.
Over the weekend, Tunisian authorities say they picked up 125 migrants bound for Europe. The majority of the group were sub-Saharan Africans.