NOS/Lennard SwolfsMigrants in Sfax, Tunisia
NOS News•today, 16:00•Edited today, 16:32
Lennard Swolfs
foreign editor
Lennard Swolfs
foreign editor
“This will not change anything,” says a 34-year-old Tunisian about the migration deal that Tunisia and the European Union concluded last week. He comes from a fishing family where everyone is in the smuggling business. He himself ensures that the migrants get on the boat.
If it is up to the EU, there will soon be no more boats coming to Europe. Outgoing Prime Minister Rutte said earlier this week that the migration deal must disrupt the business model of people smugglers in order to stop the dangerous crossings across the Mediterranean Sea. But smugglers in the Tunisian port of Sfax have little to worry about.
“Corruption is in Tunisian blood,” says the 34-year-old man during a car ride through the suburbs of Sfax. “If you want to send a boat out to sea, just call your contacts at the coastguard. For a fee, they will let you know when it’s safe to go. Do you really think the authorities don’t know anything?”
He is excited about the deals he and other smugglers make with the Coast Guard. “If you send five boats out to sea, you have one intercepted. It looks like the coast guard is doing something. Meanwhile, the other boats can continue. The coast guard, police, officials; everyone is involved and earns from it. It takes years to deal with that.”
Sfax is the main departure point in Tunisia for people who want to go to Europe. The Italian island of Lampedusa is less than 150 kilometers away:
nosThe coastal town of Sfax is less than 150 kilometers from the Italian island of Lampedusa.
Human rights groups warn that migration deals like the one between the EU and Tunisia will change little and that smugglers will benefit from them. “As long as there are no legal migration routes, refugees and migrants will continue to rely on people smugglers,” Amnesty said.
Indeed, migrants in Sfax say they will continue to try to cross over to Europe. “They can close the borders, but we will find a way,” says a migrant from Gambia.
Like thousands of other black Africans, the Gambian lives on the streets. In the center of the city they have their own makeshift market where they also sleep at night. They freshen themselves up and wash their clothes on the sidewalk. With temperatures above 40 degrees, they wonder how long they can keep this up.
And that is why, despite the migration deal, they continue to look for the right smuggler to reach Europe. “They may be able to stop us for a while, but not forever,” says a man from Benin. Moreover, no agreements have been made in the agreement about sending these migrants back if they manage to reach Europe. Only migrants with Tunisian nationality may be returned.
Fear of deportations
Some migrants hide behind large, peeling billboards. Not only because of the shadow, but mainly because of the fear of being arrested by agents of the security service.
Hundreds of migrants have been arrested in recent weeks and taken by bus to a piece of no man’s land near the border with Libya, in the middle of the desert. There they are left to fend for themselves, sometimes resulting in death.
The African migrants in Sfax are in contact with friends and family who have been brought to the border area. One of them recently received a video of someone who passed away:
“My wife and children are still in the desert, without help”
The deportations were preceded by fierce fighting between Tunisians and the migrants. A 41-year-old Tunisian was killed, which caused additional anger in the country. Tunisians believe that the migrants cause a lot of nuisance and take their jobs. For weeks there have been racist manhunts for black Africans, fueled by the autocratic President Saied.
“Tunisians treat us very violently,” says a man from Nigeria. He takes off his hat and points to a serious head wound. “Look, they did this to me. I had to stitch it myself because there are few aid organizations. I don’t understand why the European Union is making a deal with Tunisia to keep us here instead of helping us.”
NOS/Lennard Swolfs
Migrants in Sfax, Tunisia
NOS/Lennard Swolfs
Migrants in Sfax, Tunisia
NOS/Lennard Swolfs
Migrants in Sfax, Tunisia
NOS/Lennard Swolfs
Migrants in Sfax, Tunisia
NOS/Lennard Swolfs
Migrants in Sfax, Tunisia
Aid organizations advocate tackling the problem at its core and investing in the migrants’ countries of origin. It is also a common story in the port city of Sfax. “If Europe doesn’t want us, then they should help us by improving the situation in Africa,” says the migrant from Gambia. “I also prefer to stay in my country to work there, but there are no opportunities there now.”
How many migrants would really return to their home country if the situation there improves remains a guess. Until then, migrants in Sfax will continue to make the illegal crossing to Europe.
2023-07-19 14:00:54
#Migration #deal #leaves #Tunisian #smugglers #cold #change
