TUNIS: Tunisia stepped up naval patrols on Tuesday to stop migrants from crossing to Italy as its coast guard was accused of deliberately ramming one boat of asylum-seekers, drowning at least five.
The accusations were made late Monday by eight migrants on the boat that was attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Italy, which is struggling to cope with a flood of thousands of people trying to enter Europe illegally.
Thirty people were missing, the survivors claimed. There was no official confirmation.
Eleven families that said they lost relatives in the sinking said they would take legal action Tuesday against the crew of the coast guard vessel they said was involved, the "Liberte 302".
Survivors told AFP that the coast guard ship had rammed their boat, splitting it in half on Friday.
"The boat... was carrying 120 passengers, 85 people were saved, five died and 30 are still missing," said one of the survivors, 23-year-old Ziad Ben Abdaalah.
Seven others confirmed his statements in comments to AFP. Each of them said they paid 2,000 dinars ($1,400, 1,000 euros) for the attempted trip.
Ben Abdaalah said that about 12 hours into the crossing, a coast guard vessel gave the order to stop the engines and then charged.
"We heard the guards saying 'lower your heads' and then they rammed us and broke the boat in two," he said.
Survivors said they had seen an Italian helicopter flying above and then another Tunisian coastguard boat arrived on the scene to rescue them.
Tunisians have longed used Italy as a stepping stone into Europe, where they want to find work, but there has been an increase in arrivals following the ouster of Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali last month with good weather also playing a part.
About 5,000 migrants, most of them Tunisians, have landed on the small island of Lampedusa, which is closer to Tunisia than mainland Europe, in about the past week and the Italian government has declared a humanitarian disaster.
Authorities have been transferring them to other reception centres on the mainland to avoid overcrowding on the tiny island.
They will have a chance to make a formal request for asylum at immigrant detention centres, Italian officials said.
As Italy appealed for help to cope with the influx, Tunisia moved troops into its southern fishing ports including Zarzis in a bid to halt the sea crossings.
Armoured vehicles blocked entry to the port at Zarzis where armed soldiers allowed only people identified as fishermen to enter, an AFP reporter said. Several checkpoints were also erected in the town.
Italy has offered Tunisia help in dealing with the crisis, including radar and patrol boats to be put at the disposal of its military.
Rome said Monday it had officially asked the European Commission for 100 million euros ($134 million) in aid to tackle the massive influx of migrants.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told EU president Herman Van Rompuy in a telephone conversation that the situation "is urgent and concerns all of the European Union and needs to be addressed in that way," a government statement said.
France said Tuesday it would only let Tunisian migrants to seek refuge on French soil in a few "very marginal" cases.
"France's position is not to reward illegal immigration," European Affairs Minister Laurent Wauquiez told a news conference.
"The interior ministry will examine on a case by case basis those who qualify for the right to immigration. Those cases can only be very marginal," he added.
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