 Two humanitarian rescue ships pulled 394 migrants from a dangerously overcrowded wooden boat in the Mediterranean overnight on Sunday. A night winner says the operation which involved German and French enduro ships lasted about six hours. An overcrowded wooden boat carrying hundreds of migrants was spotted in the Mediterranean overnight on Sunday. At least 394 migrants were rescued by German and French enduro ships SeaWatch 3 and Ocean Viking in an operation that lasted six hours, according to a Reuters witness. Many on board were seen jumping off the boat and trying to swim, as humanitarian workers scrambled to hand out life jackets. It was not clear if there were any deaths or injuries among the migrants who were mainly men from Morocco, Bangladesh, Egypt and Syria. They were eventually rescued in Tunisian waters 42 miles from the North African coast. The witness said their engine had stopped working and their boat started taking in water. Migrant boat departures from Libya and Tunisia to Italy and other parts of Europe have increased in recent months as weather conditions have improved. The International Organization for Migration says more than 1,100 people have died this year in the Mediterranean fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa and the Middle East. Well political analyst Achike Choudi is joining us now on the news. Hello Mr Choudi. Yes, good evening. How are you? Good, good. We're joining you. Yes, glad to have you. It's been a long time. It has been. It has been. All right. So why do you think young Africans continue to make this dangerous croissants? Dangerous and unfortunate. Yes. Because the continent continues to lose a lot of human resources that are the best of times would have helped in building the continent. And you know at the very first time we had this kind of serious immigration. That was forced at the period of slavery that lasted for about 450 years. And then you know some people have posited that this time around Africans are willingly going into slavery. Perhaps not slavery exactly but the end result is the same thing that would deprive the continent of the best hands to help build the nation and then they do that on behalf of other nations. But obviously economic, a lot of the people that are living in the continent are living for economic reasons. There are those that are living because of the, because they are internally displaced because of the violence and the wars that are going on in parts of the continent. But either way the vast majority of them are looking for a better life and they believe that they cannot find it in the continent of Africa. So they are willing to risk their lives. This is such for a better life. Yes, but is it good enough for all the risks involved? We've seen many dead in the course of those journeys. Well for those who have taken the risk and succeeded and gotten over there and somehow have been able to make it and send in all kinds of stories about their successes in Europe to those at home. They are by foiling the desire by others to also embark on such dangerous journeys. But I do not think that it is worth it. They kind of danger as a simple, I mean go through. It's a horrific, terrible experience. And it's not just what happens in the oceans, but what happens between one country to the other country until they get to maybe Libya from where they want to, they hope to move to Spain. It's a horrible experience. For those people who have tried it, gone through West Africa to Central Africa, they took a rune and I mean the experiences have been horrific. For those who were able to come back, they tell terrible tales of being imprisoned in other countries in Africa and being tortured before they eventually release. And of course you're not talking about those that are killed by bandits and all kinds of very dangerous people. And then those who end up, especially the ladies, who end up as sex slaves in some African countries. So it's a horrific, terrible experience. And I do not think if you ask me, I do not think that it is worth the risk. European leaders have done many things to put a stop to this including giving money to the Libyan government. It seems their strategies are obviously not working. How best can we check irregular migration? I think the European leaders have also realized that it is not enough to just encourage other countries not to allow immigration to come to their territories. Of course we know that there are serious domestic issues associated with that. Some of the far-right movements are growing in some of these countries, putting pressure on the political lives of their country. And of course you know that for those countries that encourage immigration or do not do much about immigration, when it comes to election time, the people are going to put them out because they want them to do something about the immigrants that are coming in droves into their country. So yes, they have spent money not just in Libya. They have spent money in parts of West Africa to try to get them to stop people from moving to Europe because of the problems it causes. But it must go beyond that. I think there is now a realization that if nothing is done to pull Africa out of a very severe economic situation she finds herself in, then you are going to continue to see this immigration to Europe. But the onus is really, the onus is not on the European Union to pull Africa out of her mess. But that's a story for another day. But how can the African Union, what can they do to stop African use from risking their lives trying to cross the Mediterranean? Well, I am glad you actually said that the onus is not for Europeans to help bail Africa out of her problems. Over the years there has been a recurrent, I mean there has been this talk by a lot of people, not just Europeans, but Africans themselves that unless Africa is able to bail herself out of the economic quagmire and political quagmire she finds herself in, no other outsider, no other person, no other country is going to do it on behalf of Africa. Africa must be surveyed by Africa. So I agree with you really. Now what can the African Union do? I think look, what is the root cause of the migration that we are seeing across the African continent? It's the deep poverty that is blighting a lot of the countries in Africa. It is the crisis of violence and wars and conflicts that we see in many parts of Africa. These are the things that are falling in tunnel immigration, tunnel migration as well as external migration. So if we can tackle this issue, we must really need to sit down and engage themselves in proper governance of the continent. That is the only way they can reduce the influx of, I mean those people who are seeking, are taking this terrible risk of going to Europe and other parts of the world. Outside of that there is nothing that can be done. So apart from short term measures, apart from making sure that organizations, like in Nigeria, that is responsible for stopping the trafficking in women and children and people, like Natip. We would also expect long term alternatives and that is the act of to embark upon the building of African economies to make sure that they can get, so that they build up economies bringing factories and then ensure that the vast majority of our youth population who are in the majority in the continent can be able to get job and do something meaningful with their lives. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Ati Ketchou, the time would not allow us to continue with this interview. But thank you so much for your time and insight. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.