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>Tunisian influencers are under fire after sharing TikTok videos of themselves on migrant boats to Italy and posting glossy pictures of their travels across Europe.
>With almost two million followers between them, 18-year-old Sabee al Saidi and Chaima Ben Mahmoude, 21, waved to the camera on seemingly calm trips across the Mediterranean as they danced to rap music.
>After landing in Lampedusa, Italy, they then posted selfies in front of landmarks and BMWs as they travelled around Europe.
>The pair has been blasted for “glamorising” a trip that kills thousands each year and giving an unrealistic view of life in Europe to desperate migrants.
>”Social media is putting out a vision of Europe that is not accurate,” said Matt Herbert, research manager at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.
>A total of 2,048 people went missing in the Mediterranean in 2021, with 23,000 missing since 2014, according to the Missing Migrants Project.
>Tunisia is a hub for migrants on their journey to Europe from North Africa. In 2021, authorities detained over 23,000 migrants attempting to leave the country’s shores, up 360 per cent from 2019.
>Experts say Tunisia’s floundering economy is partly to blame. With an 18 per cent unemployment rate exacerbated by the impact of Covid-19 migration attempts have soared.
>Ms Ben Mahmoude said financial difficulties and an inability to get a visa “forced” her to make the journey. She claimed to be earning £90 per month which is just enough to “use public transport and buy lunch”.
>”I didn’t find anything for myself in Tunisia,” she said told the Associated Press. “I have a diploma in hairdressing and I couldn’t get any work in this field.”
>All it took was a call to a friend of a friend and £1,100 to secure a place in the boat alongside 23 others.
>Two Tunisian women have sparked controversy after they posted videos of their migrant journeys to Europe by boat
>Since Ms al Saidi and Ms Ben Mahmoude crossed the Mediterranean they have accumulated thousands of likes on photos of their shopping sprees, rides in BMWs and trips to boutique cafes.
>Despite her smiles in the photos, Ms Ben Mahmoude said the journey was terrifying.
>”The fear was extraordinary, the sea was really agitated and there were lots of high waves,” she said. “In the boat, we said a prayer and prepared ourselves for death. When they told us we had arrived in Italian waters, we couldn’t believe it.”
>Wael Garnaoui, a psychologist researching the journey, says the hope of a better life in Europe is largely based on “the migration lie,” which he says has been intensified by social media.
>He explained that migrants think they can easily travel to Europe and get work, money and papers thanks to social media posts.
>”So they go to the Eiffel Tower and take a selfie in a Lacoste T-shirt, take photos of expensive cars… They tell their family back home that everything is going well,” Mr Garnaoui said.
edit : independent website with same story and a few more details
4 comments
Try unpaywalling this article using [joinincoggo.com](https://go.joinincoggo.com/rb) – it’s free and works on The Telegraph & more.
>Tunisian influencers are under fire after sharing TikTok videos of themselves on migrant boats to Italy and posting glossy pictures of their travels across Europe.
>With almost two million followers between them, 18-year-old Sabee al Saidi and Chaima Ben Mahmoude, 21, waved to the camera on seemingly calm trips across the Mediterranean as they danced to rap music.
>After landing in Lampedusa, Italy, they then posted selfies in front of landmarks and BMWs as they travelled around Europe.
>The pair has been blasted for “glamorising” a trip that kills thousands each year and giving an unrealistic view of life in Europe to desperate migrants.
>”Social media is putting out a vision of Europe that is not accurate,” said Matt Herbert, research manager at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.
>A total of 2,048 people went missing in the Mediterranean in 2021, with 23,000 missing since 2014, according to the Missing Migrants Project.
>Tunisia is a hub for migrants on their journey to Europe from North Africa. In 2021, authorities detained over 23,000 migrants attempting to leave the country’s shores, up 360 per cent from 2019.
>Experts say Tunisia’s floundering economy is partly to blame. With an 18 per cent unemployment rate exacerbated by the impact of Covid-19 migration attempts have soared.
>Ms Ben Mahmoude said financial difficulties and an inability to get a visa “forced” her to make the journey. She claimed to be earning £90 per month which is just enough to “use public transport and buy lunch”.
>”I didn’t find anything for myself in Tunisia,” she said told the Associated Press. “I have a diploma in hairdressing and I couldn’t get any work in this field.”
>All it took was a call to a friend of a friend and £1,100 to secure a place in the boat alongside 23 others.
>Two Tunisian women have sparked controversy after they posted videos of their migrant journeys to Europe by boat
>Since Ms al Saidi and Ms Ben Mahmoude crossed the Mediterranean they have accumulated thousands of likes on photos of their shopping sprees, rides in BMWs and trips to boutique cafes.
>Despite her smiles in the photos, Ms Ben Mahmoude said the journey was terrifying.
>”The fear was extraordinary, the sea was really agitated and there were lots of high waves,” she said. “In the boat, we said a prayer and prepared ourselves for death. When they told us we had arrived in Italian waters, we couldn’t believe it.”
>Wael Garnaoui, a psychologist researching the journey, says the hope of a better life in Europe is largely based on “the migration lie,” which he says has been intensified by social media.
>He explained that migrants think they can easily travel to Europe and get work, money and papers thanks to social media posts.
>”So they go to the Eiffel Tower and take a selfie in a Lacoste T-shirt, take photos of expensive cars… They tell their family back home that everything is going well,” Mr Garnaoui said.
edit : independent website with same story and a few more details
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/italy-tunis-europe-mediterranean-social-media-b2014516.html
slap them a permanent ban for entering illegally
Funny some of the far right are completely ok with this since they are attractive women.