TUNIS: Four pregnant women were among 20 migrants whose bodies were found off Tunisia’s coast after their smuggling boat sank, Tunisian authorities said Friday, as search efforts continued for 13 others believed missing.
Nineteen of the 20 migrants who died in Thursday’s sinking were women, according to Mourad Torki, the court spokesman for the Sfax region in central Tunisia.
Coast guard officials and local fishermen retrieved the bodies and brought them to shore, and transferred them in white body bags to a nearby hospital where autopsies were carried out.
Four migrants were rescued, Torki said: One remained under medical supervision Friday and another fled the hospital.
The boat, overloaded and in poor condition, was carrying 37 people — three Tunisians and others from sub-Saharan Africa, Torki said. Coast guard boats and navy divers were searching for the 13 missing, but found no new bodies or survivors Friday, amid strong winds and high waves in the area.
Tunisian authorities say they have intercepted several migrant smuggling boats recently, but that the number of attempts has been growing, notably between the Sfax region and the Italian island of Lampedusa.
Migrant smuggling boats frequently leave from the coast of Tunisia and neighboring Libya carrying people from across Africa, including a growing number of Tunisians fleeing prolonged economic difficulties in their country.
Four pregnant women among 20 migrants dead in Tunisia sinking
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Four pregnant women among 20 migrants dead in Tunisia sinking
- Nineteen of the 20 migrants who died in Thursday’s sinking were women
- Coast guard officials and local fishermen retrieved the bodies and brought them to shore
Palestinian president receives draft of constitution ahead of elections
- Local elections scheduled for April, Palestinian National Council elections in November
- Draft constitution maintains political pluralism, separation of powers, while also allowing parliament to carry out oversight, legislative responsibilities
LONDON: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has received a draft of the provisional constitution as the Palestinian Authority prepares to conduct elections this year.
Abbas said on Thursday that the drafting of the provisional Palestinian constitution would pave the way for the transition from the current Palestinian Authority to a fully fledged state, which to date about 160 countries have recognized.
Palestinian local elections are scheduled for April, while the Palestinian National Council elections are to take place in November, according to a decree issued by Abbas last week. The latter are for the Palestine Liberation Organization’s parliament and it will be the first time members are elected by direct popular vote, rather than appointed or co-opted.
Counselor Muhammad Al-Hajj Qasim led the drafting committee, which worked for about seven months and held 70 meetings. It consulted various civil society organizations and relevant stakeholders, according to the WAFA News Agency.
Qasim said the draft constitution maintained political pluralism and the separation of powers, while allowing parliament to carry out its oversight and legislative responsibilities. A copy of the draft will be submitted to the PLO’s Executive Committee.
The last national election for Palestinians was in 2006 but they voted for local representatives in 2021.
The Palestinian Legislative Council has not convened since 2007. Abbas dissolved the parliament in 2018 after it had remained inactive for over a decade, largely due to a rift between Fatah and Hamas, and the arrest of several MPs, primarily from Hamas, by the Israeli authorities.
