Protests erupt in Tunisian town as search continues for 37 missing migrants
Al Jazeera
Residents in the town of El Hencha are waiting to hear news of loved ones who disappeared crossing the Mediterranean.
Tunis, Tunisia – A boat said to be carrying some 37 migrants and asylum seekers has gone missing off the coast of Sfax in Tunisia.
Relatives described receiving final phone calls at around 2:30pm on January 11, as the boat was setting out to sea. By around 10pm the same night, all contact with the boat and its passengers had been lost.
Other than three or four people from elsewhere in Tunisia, all of the boat’s passengers are reported to be from the small village of El Hencha in the Sfax Governorate. They range in age from about 13 to 35 years old.
Frustrated by the lack of news since the boat’s disappearance, the families of the missing migrants erected roadblocks and burned tyres around the village yesterday, only withdrawing when the government authorities assured the public that search efforts would continue.
Mohammed Jlaiel’s 25-year-old brother Ali is among the missing.
