Tunisia Rebukes Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini Over Migrant Crisis

Relatives of Tunisian migrants, who drowned at the weekend when their boat sank, react as they leave a hospital morgue after identifying the bodies of their family members, in Sfax, Tunisia Photo Credit: Zoubeir Souissi/Reuters

Tunisia has issued a strongly-worded rebuke to the new interior minister of Italy, Matteo Salvini, after he accused it of knowingly sending migrants with convictions across the Mediterranean.

Tunisia summoned the Italian ambassador to register its profound astonishment about the comments - made when Mr Salvini visited migrant centres in Sicily on Sunday.

The Tunisian foreign ministry said Mr Salvini's words did not reflect the co-operation between the two countries and showed a lack of knowledge about existing measures to manage migration.

Meanwhile, the death toll has risen to at least 112 people after a boat packed with migrants sank off the coast of Tunisia on Saturday, the International Organization for Migration says.

One survivor told Reuters news agency that the captain had abandoned the boat after it started sinking to escape arrest by the coastguard.





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