On September 21, a boat that had 18 illegal Tunisian migrants on board was shipwrecked off Zarzis, in southeastern Tunisia, reports the site. Nawaat.
Alerted by families without news of their loved ones, fishermen and local associations spontaneously began research work at sea to try, at least, to fish out the bodies of the victims. In the absence of a reaction from the authorities, the fishermen had to interrupt their economic activities to devote themselves to research efforts.
“It’s strong, it’s a real political act. It is a form of self-management, the citizens organize themselves”, says Walid, a resident of Zarzis. On October 5, a woman is identified “thanks to his bracelet”, on a beach on the island of Djerba. This is Malek Ourini, a 27-year-old young woman. On October 10, several bodies were found by fishermen.
Among the missing, a woman and her daughter. They wanted to join Karim, the father of the family, who lives in Italy. After the tragedy, Karim returned to his hometown to search for his family who had disappeared at sea.
Summary burials
According to the report published by Nawaat, at least 4 castaways who were part of the September 21 expedition were buried in the Jardins d’Afrique cemetery, also called “cemetery of the unknown”. A cemetery where are generally buried sub-Saharan migrants who died during a clandestine crossing and whose identification is impossible. The Zarzisois wonder how the public prosecutor was able to authorize the burial of these bodies even though families were looking for them.
Under pressure from families and local civil society, the authorities began a series of DNA tests to try to identify the bodies. Sign of the anger of the inhabitants, the general strike which was launched in Zarzis on October 18 by the Regional Labor Union was massively followed, reports the site Digital Tunisia.
Social distress
On Tuesday, October 18, President Kaïs Saïed, “who only spoke late on the Zarzis affair”, asked “thorough investigation” to his Minister of the Interior, reports the independent news site Business News.
“Duty demands a study of the causes that led even children to throw themselves into craft now known as death craft,” said the president.
According to figures from the Italian Interior Ministry quoted by Business News, at least 15,430 Tunisian migrants have managed to reach Italian shores since January 2022, and the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) has identified 507 Tunisians who have died attempting the crossing.
To explain the motivation of Tunisians to attempt these risky departures to European shores, Business News notes that “the Tunisian’s purchasing power has collapsed”. “With a minimum wage of just over 400 dinars [125 euros environ]it is impossible to make ends meet, explains the Tunisian site. Eating, paying bills and rent, educating children and hoping to have access to a minimum of leisure has become almost impossible even for a civil servant… In Tunisia, health has become a luxury; quality education, inaccessible.”