Managing mass disasters linked to the sinking of illegal migrant boats: experiences of the Sfax forensic medicine service.

Background: The sinking of illegal migrant boats has been unpredictable. It has resulted in mass disasters that cause deaths and attracts huge media attention, thus making it a medico-social emergency.

Aims: This paper reports activities of the forensic medicine service in Sfax, Tunisia and describes the forensic management of mass disasters related to the sinking of illegal migrant boats as well as the main challenges.

Methods: This is a retrospective, descriptive study that includes all cases of drowning deaths examined at the forensic department of Habib Bourguiba Hospital, Sfax, following the sinking of illegal migrant boats over a four-year period (October 2017 to September 2021).

Results: During the study period, we received 539 corpses following the sinking of illegal migrant boats. The median number of deaths was 93 per year. There was a significant decrease in the number of victims in 2019 (13 victims), followed by a significant increase in 2020 (115) and 2021 (271). We noted two frequency peak periods in June and July, 31.4% and 20.8%, respectively. The victims were mostly male (67.5%) with a sex ratio of 2.08. Minors aged under 18 years were 5.8% and pregnant women were 2.4%. The majority (63.1%) of the victims were of sub-Saharan origin and there has been an increase in the number of victims from this region over the past two years. Samples were systematically collected for genetic investigation and 146 (27.1%) victims were identified.

Conclusion: There have been significant advances in the identification of the victims of migrant boat sinking around the Tunisian coast, however, there are several challenges in providing information rapidly to the families of the victims to clarify the uncertainty about the fate of their missing loved ones.