When Aicha* said goodbye to her sister Marwa and her three children who would be leaving with their aunt one night in January 2024, she was not sure if she would ever see or even hear from them again. But she received a call from a detention center in Sicily only two days later letting her know they had made it safely. Aicha and Marwa’s other sister Saoussan understood why Aicha had made the decision: “There is no future in Tunisia,” she told Meshkal in an interview in April 2025.
Marwa in Tunisia
When she decided to emigrate form Tunisia, 40-year-old Marwa was single, from a working class family in a working class neighborhood outside of Sousse, and struggling to make a living. She comes from a large family: one brother and six sisters. After dropping out of high school, Marwa trained to become a hairstylist. She opened a small salon in her hometown, outside of Sousse, where she worked full time. Her sisters say that Marwa had to work seven days a week just so she could pay the 400 TND-a-month rent for her salon and help her sick and widowed mother with daily living expenses.
Marwa’s dream, they said, was to own her own upscale salon and buy her own car. Marwa had tried to save money and got her driving license to do that. But that dream seemed impossible to achieve, her sisters said. One day, Marwa told her family that she had decided to go to Italy, having heard of other Tunisians who had managed to migrate successfully and earn more in Europe. Marwa’s sisters recount her telling them these stories, about people earning enough in Europe to live, travel, and send money back to their families.
Aicha said she agreed with Marwa’s decision and even encouraged her to go. Not only that, Aicha also decided to send three of her four children with her sister in the hopes of guaranteeing them a better future in Europe.
Aicha, a cleaner in a postal office, whose husband works as a waiter at a small cafe, said they struggle to make ends meet. Aicha says she particularly struggled to afford her children’s education. Her two older sons, 18 and 16, dropped out of high school to work, one working as a driver and day-laborer, the other in a carpenter’s workshop.
Aicha’s youngest is a nine-year-old girl, who was still in school at the time of Marwa’s departure. But Marwa told Aicha that taking her with her would help her get asylum in Italy. At the same time, it would guarantee the kid a chance to learn Italian at an early age and go to an Italian school. She also thought Aicha’s older boys would get better jobs in Europe, not just in Italy.
Aicha said she knew the dangers of this journey–a journey that is often deadly–yet she chose to take the risk. She believed that Marwa also knew the danger of crossing the Mediterranean irregularly, yet she chose to risk her life looking for a better one.
Preparing for the Journey
Aicha said that Marwa spent four months researching the trip by word of mouth, asking locals for the safest option she could find. She eventually found a transporter known in her area for getting everyone safe to Italy. She said that according to the local reputation, no one had ever died going with this particular transporter, and he claimed he could get them there in just two days.
According to Aicha’s sister, the transporter told Marwa to prepare the passports for everyone and be ready to leave at any time.
For a reputedly safe journey, a “guaranteed emigration” [Harga Madhmouna] according to Saoussan, Aicha had to pay 6000 TND per person traveling.
“That is the cost for what they call a guaranteed emigration,” Saoussan told Meshkal.
One Wednesday, in January 2024, the transporter called Marwa, telling her they were leaving late that night. She hurried to pack all she could and prepare her two nephews & one niece to go.
Carrying only Four Green Passports and 24,000 TND
Marwa and her nephews & niece said goodbye to the family and got ready. Late at night, yhey took a taxi to take them all from their neighborhood to the departure point on the shore in Hergla, about 20 kilometers away.
Aicha said that she received a call from a detention center in Sicily only two days later. In that call, Marwa let the family know that everyone was safe. She also shared with them the details of their journey: they had all got in a boat of about seven meters long. There were around fifty people on board, men and women, and they all had a lot of luggage and blankets because it was cold.
According to Saoussan’s recounting of Marwa’s story, at a certain point, in the middle of the sea, the boat filled with water and the blankets got wet and heavy. The transporter then ordered everyone on board to throw all the blankets and heavy things in their luggage into the sea. It was daytime, but cold, which is why they needed the blankets. Saoussan said Marwa’s voice trembled as she described the cold water rising inside the boat that had her family. After getting rid of all the blankets on board, they started emptying the boat of water until it felt stable. After some time, a helicopter passed above them, then a ship came to rescue them.
The crew on the boat took them to a center with other migrants, where they stayed and they were allowed to call their families. Marwa was then transferred to an apartment with her two nephews and one niece, where they lived alone, separated from other migrants. In their new house, a social worker came to check on them and give them all they need regularly. Shortly after, the boys left and went to another town nearby to live alone and work.
According to Marwa’s sisters, they have only intermittent communication with Marwa these days, but as of that last contact in March 2025, Marwa was living only with her niece, receiving a monthly stipend, public transportation tickets, food supplies, cleaning supplies, and clothes. They also study the Italian language for two hours every day. The language training is free in a migrant center.
“The little girl speaks better Italian than Tunisian now,” Saoussan told Meshkal, adding that she goes to an Italian school.
Meanwhile, Marwa was working in a hotel eight hours a day. She had told her sisters that the paycheck she gets is good since she does not need to pay for rent or basic living expenses. Marwa also told her sisters that this job will allow her to get permanent residence in Italy. Marwa had also said that, a year after her arrival, she had begun the process of applying for permanent residency. Her employer had agreed to sponsor her application, citing her reliability and hard work. While the process is slow and filled with bureaucratic hurdles, Marwa remained hopeful, her sisters said. When her sisters call to check on her, she tells them that for the first time in years, she feels stable, even if her future remains uncertain to them.
Despite everything they lost at the sea: the blankets, the luggage, and the sense of safety, Marwa recounted to her sisters that she founda second chance. While the journey was traumatic, the destination was rewarding according to her sisters’ recounting.
*Names have been changed
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