For many young, disenfranchised Tunisians, Europe is tantalizingly close. The small North African country is the northernmost point on the African continent, and on an exceptionally clear day, it is possible to spot the outline of Italy across the blue horizon. The lyrics of one popular North African song, "Ah Ya Babour" ("The Boat"), by Groupe Liberta, epitomize that longing: “I sit by the sea. Lost in my thoughts. I look at the boats. The image of Paris comes to me.”

Both proximity and history are written in Tunisia’s long story of migration to Europe. After achieving independence from France in 1956, Tunisia signed bilateral labor agreements with France (1963) and Germany (1965) that facilitated emigration for work. Given France’s colonial legacy in the country, linguistic and cultural ties (though they had been required in school) made France a particularly popular destination. Movement to Europe remained relatively open until the 1990s, when European countries fortified their border controls and visa regulations — at which point, a parallel system of illegal entry, the overstaying of visas and permanent settlement began to take shape.

After the 2011 revolution, more than 28,000 men and women left Tunisia for Italy, taking advantage of Tunisia’s transitional political period and its weak law enforcement. In the following years, Tunisian migration was relatively low and remained out of the media — as opposed to the migration from and human smuggling situation in neighboring Libya. Still, thousands made the attempted crossing, and hundreds either died or disappeared. In 2014, the European Union and Tunisia established a mobility partnership to “facilitate the movement of people between the EU and Tunisia and to promote a common and responsible management of existing migratory flows, including by simplifying procedures for granting visas.”

But as the sociopolitical and economic situation in Tunisia has made it increasingly difficult for people to find gainful employment, there has been a spike in the number of Tunisians attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, by any means possible. Youth unemployment is as high as 36%, reports the World Bank, and in the interior of the country, the economic reality is even more desperate. In October and November 2017, more Tunisians left for Europe than in 2015 and 2016 combined. Some 45% of irregular migrants detained by Italian authorities were Tunisian and 8,700 Tunisians in total were caught by Italian and Tunisian authorities in 2017. The total number of migrants — those who successfully crossed and evaded detection — is thought to be much higher.