Tunisia foiled two illegal immigration attempts to cross the Mediterranean to the Italian coast, the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior said on Sunday.

According to the ministry’s statement, a unit of the Tunisian Maritime Guard arrested 75 illegal immigrants of different African nationalities, off the coastal city of Sfax in southeastern Tunisia.

“The group of illegal immigrants included eight Tunisians,” it said.

They were transferred to the Sfax naval base and handed over to the National Guard in the region to receive legal procedures.

In another statement released on Sunday, the country’s Interior Ministry announced that the National Guard of Zarat in Gabes province had arrested 11 illegal immigrants including a woman and her minor child who attempted to leave the gulf of Gabes to Italy.

Thousands of illegal immigrants attempt to cross the Mediterranean every year as Tunisia is one of the main points of access to Europe through irregular channels.