NARRATIVE – North of Sfax, more than 50,000 sub-Saharan migrants are camped waiting to cross to Europe. Living like animals in the shade of olive trees, at the mercy of Tunisian smugglers and attacks from the National Guard financed by the European Commission, they feel trapped. Some would even like to return home.
They walk barefoot, in slippers or wearing sneakers found at the water's edge. In clusters of three or four, these African nationals, dressed in dark down jackets, flock to the Tunisian north: the dream of Europe is within their reach. Soon on their boat, they will tremble as much from the cold as from fear.
“We left around 10 p.m. without light, without making a sound, tells Bilal, a 19-year-old Chadian, about his attempt to reach the Italian coast two months ago. We had walked 4 kilometers in the night carrying our boat on our shoulders. There were 48 of us, fifteen too many… Some were added at the last minute. Women with babies… Offshore, we started the engine. On board, we had eight cans of gasoline, enough to get to Italy. And then the Tunisian National Guard blocked us 16 kilometers from entering Italian waters. Their boat got closer, it circled in the water closer and closer…
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