Zarzis - (AFP) - Demonstrations renewed Friday in the city of Zarzis, in southeastern Tunisia , which is a starting point for irregular migrants to Europe, to demand the disclosure of the fate of 12 people who went missing at sea a month and a half ago.

A boat left the coast of the city with 18 Tunisian immigrants on board, seeking to reach the Italian coast, disappeared on the night of September 20 to 21.

On October 10, fishermen found eight bodies, several of them Tunisians, and 12 Tunisian migrants are still missing.

On Friday, about 3,000 people demonstrated in a "day of rage" against local and national authorities, chanting, among other things, "the thieves of our country, the two fighters of our children," according to an AFP correspondent.

Zarzis, which has a population of approximately 75,000, witnessed a general strike on October 18, to demand an investigation into the boat sinking and to intensify the search for the missing, as well as to protest the burial of some victims without verifying their identities.

The local authorities mistakenly buried four Tunisian immigrants in a cemetery called "Garden of Africa", which is usually reserved for the burial of the bodies of immigrants from sub-Saharan countries when they are found off the coast of the region.

Under pressure from the protesters, recently buried bodies were exhumed and buried in other cemeteries in the city after identifying them.

After this tragedy, President Kais Saeed ordered the Ministry of Justice to open an investigation to determine the responsibilities.

With the mild weather between spring and early fall, the frequency of irregular migration attempts from the Tunisian and Libyan coasts to the Italian coast increases, and sometimes ends with drowning.

1,765 migrants were lost in the Mediterranean, including 1,287 in the central Mediterranean, which is the most dangerous migration route in the world, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Faced with migratory pressures, Tunisian authorities struggle to intercept or rescue migrants and complain of a lack of resources, security officials recently told AFP.

The mass exodus of Tunisians is due to the deepening economic crisis and the unstable political situation.

More than 22,500 migrants - Tunisians, sub-Saharan and other nationalities - have been intercepted off the Tunisian coast since the beginning of the year, according to official data.