AT least 39 migrants died when two boats sank off Tunisia as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to the Italian island of Lampedusa, the Tunisian defence ministry said yesterday. The coastguard rescued 165 others, and searches for more survivors are still ongoing off the coast of Sfax, ministry spokesman Mohamed Zekri said. All the dead migrants were from sub-Saharan Africa, he added. The coastline near the Tunisian port city of Sfax has become a major departure point for people fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa and the Middle East and seeking a better life in Europe. In 2019, about…