Middle-class Tunisians risk shipwreck for lure of Europe


  • World
  • Thursday, 22 Feb 2024

Ines Lafi, sister of Mohammed Lafi who she says was one of 40 people who went missing in January when their boat disappeared after setting off from a beach near the port of Sfax for the Italian island of Lampedusa, carries his pictures as she attends an interview with Reuters at a protest in Tunis, Tunisia February 6, 2024. REUTERS/Jihed Abidellaoui

SFAX, Tunisia (Reuters) - Mohammed Lafi was a young man whose possession of a taxi meant he had a decent income and fair prospects by Tunisian standards. But that made little difference when he took the fatal decision to risk it all by crossing the sea for a new life in Europe.

He was one of 40 people who went missing in January when their boat disappeared after setting off from a beach near the port of Sfax for the Italian island of Lampedusa, only a few hours away.

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