Zarzis ( Tunisia ) (AFP) - A general strike was carried out, and thousands of residents of the Tunisian city of Zarzis (southeast) demonstrated on Tuesday to demand the search for missing migrants and to denounce the process of burying bodies in a cemetery for migrants without announcing their identities.

He called for a general strike, calling for the local federation (syndicate) to open an investigation into the search for the missing and the method of burying them.

On the night between last September 20 and 21, a migrant boat with 18 Tunisians on board went missing, and two bodies were recovered by sailors. The authorities also learned that there were four bodies that had been previously recovered and were mistakenly buried in a cemetery designated for migrants, according to the “Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights,” an organization that follows up the file. immigration.

An AFP correspondent reported that thousands of residents of the city, including the families of the missing, gathered and organized a march on the main street of the city, calling on the authorities to intensify the search for the missing, and condemning previous burials of bodies in a cemetery for immigrants, which later turned out to belong to some of the missing Tunisians.

Zarzis includes a cemetery where the bodies of immigrants, most of whom are from sub-Saharan African nationalities, are buried.

Government institutions and shops in the country were also closed, and health services were limited to emergencies.

Some demonstrators carried pictures of their missing sons and banners that read "a state crime" and "we demand the truth."

On Monday, President Kais Saied asked Justice Minister Leila Jaffal to open a judicial investigation into the immigration file, "so that Tunisians know the whole truth, and that those who were behind these tragedies bear the consequences of their failures and shortcomings."

The Tunisian authorities are finding it difficult to intercept or rescue migrants due to a lack of equipment.
With the improvement of the weather conditions in Tunisia, the pace of irregular migration attempts is increasing from the Tunisian and Libyan coasts towards Italy, and sometimes ends in drowning accidents.

Tunisia is experiencing an acute political and economic crisis, as poverty increases among its population of about 12 million.

The latest official figures reveal that more than 22,500 migrants have been intercepted off the Tunisian coast since the beginning of this year, including about 11,000 from sub-Saharan African countries.

In early September, 12 Tunisians died when their boat sank off the eastern coast of the country.

The security and military authorities daily rescue and intercept dozens of immigrants trying to reach the European coasts in boats that are often worn out.