Migration: Caught in transit: Dark everyday life of migrants in Tunis

The hose has holes and the spray nozzle is broken, but Ahmed Barry tries to somehow wash the small car. The 24 -year -old from Guinea has been working in the car wash in the west of Tunis for a few weeks – the only one that has still opened in the area in the course of water shortages. The business runs slow and the devices are old.

“The location is difficult, but we have to work to buy food and pay rent,” says Barry, who tries water from his wet t-shirt to wrings. “I don’t know how long we will stay or what will be tomorrow. But I hope that one day we will make it to Europe.” In addition to Barry, Ali Moriba is also made of Guinea, and stirs soap water in an old bucket.

The two have just learned from their boss that they should only wash cars if he has repaired the defective water gun. If he does not succeed, they will go home prematurely and only paid for half a day – everyone will then receive the equivalent of around 4.20 euros. You share your two -room apartment with five other migrants from West Africa.

Desire for a new, better life in Europe

Tunisia is a hub for tens of thousands of migrants who leave their home countries south of the Sahara for violence and poverty. Every year new ones are added, and every year there is the desire to start a new, better life in Europe.

Most African migrants would not work long, says the operator of the car wash, a man around the 50th “Either they hike out or they are arrested. Life is hard in Tunisia and they do not last long.”

Life has become even tougher since Tunisia had an agreement with the European Union two years ago to contain migration flows. Since then, authorities have been tough against the influx of migrants in Tunisian cities, for example in the Sfax region on the Mediterranean. Many therefore decided to live in the country or in poorer areas to avoid the security forces.

Mountains, harassment, clashes

President Kais Saied, who increasingly rules the country, heated up the situation. He accused migrants of bringing “violence, crimes and unacceptable behavior”. Those affected were hostile and harassed more and more. There were clashes between migrants and residents. Some ended fatally.

The provisional camps were also targeted by the authorities. The largest of them in Tunis, in the vicinity of which are also offices of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), was broken down and dissolved. It is said to have served thousands of not registered migrants as a place to sleep and whereabouts. Further camps were dissolved in the SFAX area this year.

Women begging on the street or sell handkerchiefs

With such measures, everyday life becomes even harder for those affected. The search for at least temporary jobs and accommodation are a daily fight during the months or even years, which many are waiting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. Many women have no choice but to go begging on the street or sell handkerchiefs.

Outside of Tunis, the authorities deal with the migrants more easily. The suburb, for example, has become a refuge. Karim is looking for plastic bottles in the trash every day to sell them at the local garbage dump, from where the bottles are sold to recycling systems. He earns around 30 cents per kilogram of plastic.

“It runs according to plan,” says the young man from Cameroon, who does not want to name his real name to protect his own security. “I try to save money because we are as transit migrants here. I once tried to cross the Mediterranean, but the coast guard caught me and skillfully moved me away from the capital.”

Increased patrols from the coast guard

Two weeks later, Karim returned to Tunis, he says. “I work here, now I have to save money and try my luck again.” It won’t be easy, because the coast guard has strengthened its patrols and monitors the waters even more thoroughly – also with the help of European equipment and with even tougher penalties for smugglers.

The EU agreement, within the framework of which Tunisia has also been promised more than 100 million euros for increased border protection, already seems to have an effect. Last year, the influx from Tunisia decreased by almost 80 percent compared to the previous year, as can be seen from official figures from Italy. In the first quarter of this year, the decline continued at the same pace.

Some make a decision not to want to wait for their fate in Tunisia. They return. A spokesman for the National Guard told the dpa that this year until May, around 3,500 migrants entered their home countries had returned irregularly – voluntarily. The IOM organizes the free flights twice a week together with Tunisia’s authorities and donor countries.

One of those who go on board sits at Tunis Airport and is waiting together with his wife and a baby. He wants to return to Guinea, says the man. He couldn’t find a job during his three years in Tunisia.