Ahmad 
The Tunisian coast witnessed a controversial incident, when the Coast Guard forces arrested 38 illegal immigrants of sub-Saharan African nationalities, following clashes with them while trying to intercept their boat.
The incident took place at dawn on Wednesday off the coast of the Al-Lawata area of Sfax Governorate, where the migrants refused to comply with orders to stop and attacked the Coast Guard forces with stones and solid materials, resulting in the injury of two security personnel.
Hisham Ben Ayyad, spokesman for the Sfax Court, stated that the migrants were able to control a small boat and escape, and detained a security personnel on board, before later regaining control of the boat and finding the security personnel tied up, and another security personnel who had fallen was rescued. At sea, he was injured, but is now in stable condition.
The Sfax Governorate, especially the Jebnina area, is witnessing a concentration of large numbers of illegal immigrants, and Tunisian President Kais Saied visited the region last week and issued a call on residents not to engage in clashes with the immigrants.
Tunisia is considered one of the main departure points for migrants who risk crossing the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe, and there are currently about 23,000 illegal immigrants in the country, according to the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior.
In the summer of 2023, Tunisia concluded a “strategic partnership” agreement with the European Union as part of efforts to combat illegal immigration, which includes financial assistance worth 105 million euros to finance efforts to combat illegal immigration, including financing the “voluntary return” of about six thousand illegal immigrants.
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