48 migrants trying to reach Europe from Libya were rescued by Tunisian coastguards.

The migrants were traveling from a makeshift boat, according to Tunisia's Red Crescent official, Mongi Slim, on Saturday. 

Slim said that the migrants, 15 of whom were Malians, 15 Syrians and 4 Egyptians, were intercepted and rescued off Zarzis when their boat broke down. Furthermore, they were taken to El Ketef port before being transferred to the International Organization for Migration premises. 

Since conflict broke out in Libya in 2011 followed by NATO interference, many have looked to migration to escape death, poverty, and instability. 

In a separate statement on Thursday, the Tunisian Ministry of Defense said that the navy rescued 28 migrants aged between 14 and 33. The migrants were rescued off Zarzis, having departed from Libya. 

According to the International Organization for Migration, 23,000 people have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean on their way to migrate to Europe since 2014, in addition to some 1,700 migrants this year.

This is not the first time Tunisia rescues migrants. In November, Tunisia rescued over 400 migrants on an overcrowded boat heading to Europe.  

Europe kidnapped migrants seeking safety

In the past six years, according to The New Yorker, the EU has fretted over the financial and political costs of dealing with migrants, particularly from sub-Saharan Africa, and has created a 'shadow immigration system' to curb migrants before reaching Europe. 

The EU did this by training and equipping a quasi-military organization - the Libyan Coast Guard - to sabotage humanitarian rescue operations and kidnap migrants crossing the Mediterranean, throwing them into a cement-depot-turned-prison in Tripoli, Libya.

The cement storage depot reopened in January 2021, with higher walls and barbed wire on the fences to prevent escape. The storage was dubbed 'al-Mabani', which is Arabic for The Buildings, which is, in fact, a detention facility that trapped over 6,000 migrants.