Ahmad 
The Tunisian Minister of the Interior, Khaled Al-Nouri, announced that the Tunisian Marine Guard intercepted more than 74,000 migrants during the first half of 2024, as they attempted to reach European coasts.
This number exceeds the number recorded in 2022, when the number of intercepted migrants then reached about 45,000 migrants.
Al-Nouri, who was speaking during his participation in the Trans-Mediterranean Migration Forum in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, pointed out that the cost of efforts to combat irregular migration cost the Tunisian treasury more than 103 million euros, allocated to the administration of the National Guard without taking into account other losses related to the environmental, health, and agricultural sectors.
The European Union signed a memorandum of understanding with Tunisia in July 2023, aiming to alleviate the burden of irregular migration on the Italian coast, by providing financial and technical support to Tunisia to improve its capabilities in controlling this phenomenon.
It is noteworthy that there have been more than 52,000 illegal immigrants who have attempted to cross the maritime borders towards Italy since the beginning of 2024, with 17,000 immigrants able to reach Italy, while the rest were intercepted by the Tunisian or Italian authorities.
Estimates indicate that the number of illegal immigrants currently in Tunisia ranges between 8,000 and 10,000 people.
The Tunisian president calls for presidential elections in October