Tunisian Interior Minister Fired over Migration tragedy

Tunisia’s Prime Minister Youssef Chahed on Wednesday fired his interior minister following the death of migrants off the coast of the North African country in the deadliest shipwreck this year.

The move follows a similar decision affecting 10 senior security officials as the country investigates the tragic death at sea of migrants on board the boat bound for Europe.

An estimated 112 lost their lives after the boat loaded with 180 sank off Sfax coast in what was described as “security failure”.

That was the highest death toll in any single migration attempt this year, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.

The migrants reportedly paid 2,000 to 3,000 Tunisian dinars ($780 to $1,170) for the crossing, according to Lorena Lando, IOM chief of mission in Tunisia.

Since the beginning of 2018, around 785 people have died en route, compared to 87 at the US-Mexico border and 82 in sub-Saharan Africa, according to IOM data.