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Migrants from Tunisia during a rescue operation organized by Spanish NGO Open Arms south of the Italian island of Lampedusa, August 9, 2022. FRANCISCO SECO / AP
Women veiled in black, handkerchief in hand. Scattered in front of the houses are chairs for visitors to offer their condolences. In Bouhajla, in central Tunisia, everyone speaks of the grief of these families who have been waiting for days for the remains of their loved ones who disappeared when a secret boat sank on the night of September 6-7 on the Chebba coast (east).
In this agricultural town of 8,000 people, where the poverty rate is 32%, twice the national average, almost every household in El-Maki district was affected by the tragedy, which according to a preliminary report left thirteen dead. Seven passengers have not yet been found. Rawiya Dhifaoui still cannot believe in the death of his younger brother Mohamed Dhifaoui, 21, whose body has been recovered. This Friday, September 16, she sadly recalls that he should have celebrated his birthday the next day.
“He worked repairing air conditioners. He struggled to make a living because he wasn’t on a permanent contract, but he wasn’t expected to go like that,” she says. Mohamed often spoke to him about his desire to migrate; she advised him to go to the Gulf States. “But he wanted papers and like many others he was influenced by social media because here everyone goes to Europe and advertises on Facebook from the moment they leave until they arrive,” she said.
“The Self Propelled”
According to this teacher, clandestine migration has become commonplace and affects all walks of life and all age groups. In the neighborhood, two high school girls dropped out of school in June, shortly after graduating from high school. A few days after the news of the sinking, an entire family with four children attempted a crossing to have one of the disabled sons treated abroad.
The phenomenon has increased in the country in recent months. Since the beginning of the year, 13,700 Tunisian migrants have reached the Italian coast, a number 18% more than in a year, said the Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES), a Tunisian NGO, in mid-September. The French Navy prevented the departure of almost 23,217 exile candidates.
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