“Tunisia’s Unemployed Revolutionaries Head to Europe” by Louise Sherwood for the BBC:
Sofien Dechich, 25, left his home in Tunis, the Tunisian capital, just a few weeks ago with dreams of making his fortune in Italy.
Four days later he boarded a fishing boat which sank 12 nautical miles (22km) from its destination Lampedusa; of the between 100 and 140 on board only 56 survived and Mr Dechich’s family do not know if he is alive or dead…
Since the tragedy happened the mothers and sisters of the missing young men have been protesting outside government and embassy buildings in Tunis carrying placards and large, framed photos of their sons and brothers…
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) recorded 27,000 Tunisians arrivals on Lampedusa out of a total of 60,000 – including those fleeing the Libyan war and migrants from other countries.
A crackdown by Italian authorities has meant that this year, many less have successfully made the journey to the island with about 3,300 migrants from all nationalities arriving between January and June.
Yet figures are likely to rise again as many Tunisians have been disappointed by the lack of progress following the revolution…
