At least 10 people were missing and one died after a boat en route to Italy sank off Tunisia on Sunday. This is according to a judicial official.
Tunisia's coastguard rescued 11 people from the boat, which capsized off the coast of the southeastern town of Zarzis, Faouzi Masmoudi, a judge in the nearby city of Sfax, told Reuters.
The coastal city of Sfax and neighbouring towns have become a key access point to Europe for many people crossing the Mediterranean.
The number of people dead or missing in boats sunk off the Tunisian coast has reached 608, the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights said on Saturday. The country's coastguard foiled attempts to board boats by 33,000 people, the rights group added.
In recent weeks, Tunisians in Sfax have protested against refugees.
On Tuesday, a Tunisian man was stabbed to death during violent confrontations in the city. Juridical officials said three Sub-Saharan Africans suspected of being responsible were arrested.
Tunisian security forces expelled hundreds of Black African people from Sfax to the Libya border earlier this week, according to rights groups.
Security forces beat the evictees, throwing away their food and smashing their phones. This is according to Lauren Seibert, a researcher into refugee and migrant rights at Human Rights Watch.
The EU has pledged financial support to Tunisia to help it deal with the migration crisis in the country.
President Kais Saied said last month that Tunisia would not be responsible for stopping irregular migration to Europe. He "refuses to be a place of transit or settlement for migrants".
In February, Saied linked Sub-Saharan Africa to criminality, in comments widely denounced as racist.
"There has been a criminal plan since the beginning of the century to change Tunisia's demographic structure, and there are parties that received large sums of money after 2011 for the settlement of illegal immigrants from Sub-Saharan Africa," he said.
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