By Tarek Amara
TUNIS, Aug 24 (Reuters) – A hospital in the southern Tunisian city of Ben Guerdane has received at least 19 bodies of migrants recovered from the sea over the past two days, the head of a migrant rights group said on Monday, following the sinking of a boat at the weekend.
The sinking of the migrant boat, which carried seven members of the same family, sparked a wave of grief and anger triggering violent protests in the city on Sunday night.
Protesters burned tyres and blocked roads, while police responded by firing tear gas to disperse the crowds.
Protesters are demanding better living conditions and economic development, saying a lack of opportunities and years of marginalisation are pushing young people to undertake dangerous sea crossings to Europe in search of a better life.
It was not clear if all the bodies were from the boat that sank.
Mostafa Abdelkebir, the head of the Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights, told Reuters that genetic testing was being carried out to identify the bodies and determine how many of them had been aboard the boat, while searches continued for other people who may still be missing.
Tunisia was once a major departure point for migrants crossing the Mediterranean, but departures have fallen sharply over the past two years amid a crackdown and tighter maritime controls, backed by European funding and modern border-monitoring equipment, particularly from Italy.
Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and dozens of other human rights and humanitarian groups said in a statement last month that the EU-Tunisia migration deal had fuelled and normalised serious abuses against migrants and asylum seekers in Tunisia.
(Reporting By Tarek Amara; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
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