(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 19 - Many migrants and refugees continue to die during the sea crossing from north Africa to Europe, said Juan Matias Gil, Head of Mission of the Geo Barents rescue ship operated by Doctors without Borders (Msf) that disembarked 471 people in the Puglia port of Brindisi on Tuesday. The new arrivals feel "relief for the end of this long crossing and for the end of their stay in Tunisia, which is becoming very hard," added Gil.
    Tunisia is the country of departure of many of the migrants and refugees embarking on the dangerous journey in search of safety and a better life in Europe.
    People departing from Tunisia have started to report "borderline situations" especially in Tunisia, "with people who had been there for many years being turned away", said Gil.
    He also said "many people are raped and taken back to the borders with Algeria and Libya, where they find themselves in a crossfire as neither country is safe". "People tell us they are raped in the streets when they go to buy food," he added.
    Italy has made cooperation with third countries such as Tunisia a central pillar of its strategy to stem irregular migration and played a leadership role in pushing through the Memorandum of Understanding between Tunis and the EU on stepping up cooperation to curb departures and the activities of smuggling gangs in exchange for funding, which was sealed during a visit to Tunisia in mid-July by EC chief Ursula von der Leyen, Premier Giorgia Meloni and Dutch PM Mark Rutte. (ANSA).