In Tunisia’s south, migrants are being taught how to sow in the underdeveloped southern city of Medenine by local charitable organizations are assisting migrants from other African nations in integrating.
Bintou a native of the Ivory Coast says thanks to sewing training at a day center, she has gained inner confidence. The center is administered by the Support of Refugees group, which is a collaboration between eight Tunisian medical organizations that provides assistance to mostly female migrants.
“When I am at this association, it is as if I were at home in Ivory Coast. And here when Zeineb (member of the coalition) sees us stressed, she organizes a small party, she puts on music, she invites us to dance and we laugh. We forget (our problems), it’s like that here”, Bintou said.
Bintou intends to stay, largely because “it is peaceful,” even if as she says she sometimes suffers racism and harassment.
In the front row of a small classroom, three women, all different nationalities, learn French. This is also thanks to the umbrella of eight Tunisian medical charities in a wider North Africa region, often far from welcoming.
”When we saw the increasing number of migrants, we said to ourselves why not create a structure that brings us all together and helps these migrants who are in our region? This is sort of what led us to create the Coalition of Humanitarian Associations of Medenine”, said Abdallah Saïd, president of the Coalition of Humanitarian Associations of Medenine.
Over the last decade, the number of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa arriving in Tunisia has grown substantially.
They range from foreign workers displaced from Libya, to asylum seekers and new immigrants looking for work in Tunisia.
“We have very limited resources and we do not even have the means to support associations that work with migrants or asylum seekers. What we do to help associations is at the level of logistics with offering spaces that belong to the municipality (for their use). This is what we are working on with the associations”, said Moncef Ben Yemma, Mayor of Médenine.
According to the International Organization for Migration, 1,000 migrants have been picked up in Mediterranean waters by Tunisian vessels and have ended up in the country in the last six months alone.
Over 60 migrants went missing or died after two boats capsized in less than 72 hours off the coast of Tunisia this weekend, highlighting the dangers of such voyages.
Migrants are low on the political priority list since the country is engaged in an economic crisis that leaves it unable to address the demands of its own residents.
In 2014 and 2015, two UN-run receiving centers were opened in Medenine, but they rapidly became overcrowded.
These constraints spurred the formation and implementation of the Organization for Migrant Support.