The UNHCR reported Wednesday that the Italian Coast Guard has recovered six bodies and is searching for as many as 40 migrants who went missing after a rubber dinghy traveling from Tunisia capsized in the central Mediterranean.

Ten additional individuals, including four women, were rescued on Tuesday and taken to an undisclosed location. The Red Cross stated that they are in good health and receiving psychological support.

Aircraft from Frontex, the European border agency, along with the Italian coast guard and other entities, are assisting in the search operation, which is being hampered by challenging sea conditions, according to the coast guard.

UNHCR reported that survivors indicated approximately 56 people were aboard the dinghy when it departed from Sfax, a Tunisian port, on Monday.

The boat began to deflate a few hours after departure. The UNHCR also noted that the individuals on board were from Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Guinea, and Mali.

The U.N.’s Missing Migrant Project estimates that over 24,506 people have died or gone missing in the dangerous central Mediterranean Sea between 2014 and 2024, with many lost at sea. The project suggests this number may be an underestimate due to unreported deaths.

According to Interior Ministry figures updated on Wednesday, 8,963 migrants have arrived in Italy this year, a 4% increase compared to the same period last year.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s center-right government has been advocating for economic agreements with North African nations to prevent migrant departures. In a recent address to lawmakers, Meloni attributed these agreements to a nearly 60% decrease in migrant arrivals to Italy last year, from 157,651 in 2023 to 66,317.

She stated that 1,695 people were either dead or missing at sea in 2024, compared to 2,526 the previous year.

“What do these numbers mean? They tell us that reducing the departures, and curbing the traffickers’ business, is the only way to reduce the number of migrants who lose their lives trying to reach Italy and Europe,” she said.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the humanitarian rescue organization Emergency rescued 35 individuals within the Libyan search-and-rescue zone. They were instructed to transport them to La Spezia, a northern city, for disembarkation, adhering to the policy of assigning ports located far from the rescue area.

“This means three days more to arrive, and above all it means to increase the suffering of the shipwrecked people,” said Anabel Montes Mier, who was running the mission.

“`