A ship carrying 94 individuals on an illegal trip from Tunisia’s Sidi Mansour beach – located central-east of Sfax – to Italy was rescued by the Tunisian Coast Guard after it received reports about a ship close to sinking on Saturday, according to TAP.

The boat included 88 Tunisian citizens. The coast guard arrived at 6 a.m, with the scene cleared by 11 a.m, TAP also reported.

Illegal immigration has been a point of contention between the interim Tunisian government and the Italian authorities. In his last visit to Tunisia, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano mentioned immigration, but he did not present a plan for rectifying the situation.

In March, Tunisian families gathered in front of the Italian embassy to inquire about the status of Tunisians who had immigrated to Italy, but whose families had not heard from them in over a year.

More than 25,000 Tunisians have traveled to Italy since the beginning of the 2011 Tunisian revolution. 850 Tunisians died last year alone during their travels to Italy, according to Assabah newspaper.