Connect with us

African News

29 African Migrants trying to cross to Italy die as Boat Sinks in Tunisia

Published

on

A boat carrying 29 African migrants trying to cross to Italy has capsized. Tunisia’s coast guard recovered 10 bodies from the migrant boat which sank near the coast, the second vessel to sink within hours off Tunisia, bringing the death toll to 29, according to a security official. According to Al Jazeera, Houssem Jebabli, a national guard official, said that the boat sank off the coast of Mahdia, without giving further details. Earlier on Sunday, a human rights group said at least 19 refugees and migrants from sub-Saharan Africa had drowned off the coast of Tunisia while trying to cross the Mediterranean and reach Italy. Romdhane Ben Amor, an official at the Forum for Social and Economic Rights (FTDES), told the Reuters news agency that the deaths also occurred when a boat carrying the refugees and migrants sank off the coast of Mahdia after a journey that started from Sfax beaches. He said the Tunisian coast guard was able to rescue five people from the boat. Tunisian authorities were not immediately available for comment. Reports of the deaths came as Italy’s ANSA news agency said more than 2,000 asylum seekers had arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa within 24 hours. The agency described the arrivals on Saturday as a “record”. In the last four days, at least five boats carrying refugees and migrants have sunk off the southern city of Sfax, leaving 67 missing and nine dead. The coast guard previously said it had stopped about 80 boats heading for Italy in the past four days and detained more than 3,000 people, mostly from sub-Saharan African countries. The coast near Sfax has become a major departure point for people fleeing poverty and conflict in Africa and the Middle East in the hope of a better life in Europe. The latest disaster comes amid a campaign of arrests by Tunisian authorities of undocumented sub-Saharan Africans. According to United Nations data, at least 12,000 people who reached Italy this year set sail from Tunisia, compared with 1,300 in the same period of 2022. Previously, Libya was the main departure point for refugees and migrants.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

African News

Nigeria spent $8bn to restore peace in Liberia – Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Irabor

Published

on

The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor, has revealed that Nigeria spent the sum of $8bn to restore peace in Liberia.Delivering his keynote remark at the event to mark the 75th-year celebration of the United Nations peacekeeping operations on Wednesday, May 24, the CDS noted that Nigeria’s active participation in peacekeeping missions had helped save countless lives and restore peace and stability to many countries over the decades.Irabor also stated that despite the security challenges occasioned by the activities of non-state actors and other criminal elements that have besieged the country, the Armed Forces of Nigeria and the Police have continued to contribute troops to sustain the country’s commitment to the UN.He said;“Since the first engagement of troops of our Armed Forces in the Congo in 1960, Nigeria has been unequivocally committed to the principles and objectives of the United Nations. It has significantly contributed to 41 peacekeeping operations worldwide.“Ever since, over 200,000 Nigerian troops have served in UN peacekeeping missions worldwide and Nigerian senior military officers have commanded some of these missions.“Similarly, under regional and sub-regional cooperation, Nigeria has been involved in peacekeeping operations in field missions in Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, Liberia, Mali, Darfur and Sierra Leone and has contributed a lot in terms of finance, logistics, troops and civilian experts, making her one of the most significant African troops and civilian police contributors to UN missions.“It is noteworthy that in addition to the loss of lives and injuries to personnel, the ECOMOG, a regional interventionist mediation force advocated to end the protracted Liberian civil war, was operated at an estimated cost of USD 8 billion to the Nigerian government.”

Continue Reading

African News

I couldn’t even afford a wig three years ago – Singer Libianca reveals

Published

on

Libianca, the popular Cameroonian singer, has made a revelation about herself.She revealed that she was so poor three years ago she couldn’t afford a wig and was always borrowing her mother’s wig.She disclosed this in a recent interview with R29Unbothered.The ‘People’ crooner said but now she wears expensive wigs.She said: “If you can see this [wig] burst down on my head right now, I couldn’t afford this sh*t two, three years ago.“Two, three years ago, I was wearing my mama’s wig. I’m happier. I’m actually, like, content with where I am in life.”The singer also advised European and American chefs to leave black people’s food for black chefs to cook, adding that white chefs just put spices on food and call them African dishes.

Continue Reading

African News

War: our most urgent task is to ensure Ukraine prevails against Russia – NATO

Published

on

The North Atlantic military alliance, NATO has said it will ensure that Ukraine wins the war against Russia. Recall that Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Since then Russia has claimed annexation of four territories belonging to Ukraine despite not controlling the capitals of any of them. Speaking at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Monday, May 15, the military alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said; “The most urgent task now is to ensure that Ukraine prevails — that (Russian) President Putin does not win this war,” . “Fundamentally, NATO’s task is to support Ukraine, as NATO allies and NATO have done now for more than a year, but also to prevent this war from escalating beyond Ukraine,” the official said. The chief of the US-led alliance also stated that it’s important that Ukraine is armed to defend itself from Russian aggression now and in the future. “We don’t know how this war will end, but what we do know is that when it ends, it is extremely important that we are able to prevent history from repeating itself,” he added. The NATO chief said that he expects Ukraine will join the alliance when the war is over. “When it comes to membership, I expect that NATO allies will say that Ukraine will become a member of the alliance,” Stoltenberg said “All allies also agree that Ukraine has the right to choose its own path. It’s not for Moscow to decide what Ukraine can do”

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2022 Sleeknews. Designed Amithyone