Last summer, under the blazing sun, the crew of the Ocean Viking rescued a boat in distress carrying 15 young Tunisians. Most were in their twenties, and all came from the same town in southern Tunisia. Some had known each other since childhood, and they all shared the same aspirations: to leave their country and try to build a future for themselves. For several years, Tunisia’s economic situation has been deteriorating, with high unemployment and a rising cost of living leaving part of the younger generation with few prospects.
Our dreams are simple: to build a house, to have a car. To have dignity, says Fares*, 30, from the deck of the Ocean Viking.
Trained in construction, he decided to leave his country in the hope of improving his living conditions. In 2026, he had tried to obtain a work visa for Italy, but his application was unsuccessful. He eventually chose to make the crossing by the sea.
A generation with no prospects
As Anis, another survivor, explains, everyday life in Tunisia is particularly difficult. He lives from one day to the next. Back home, there’s no real routine. One day you might have work; the next, you don’t know what you’re going to do. […] Everyone wants to work, but there aren’t enough jobs for everyone.
On top of this insecurity, the rising cost of living is making everyday life increasingly difficult. Life here has changed a lot. Every day, things get more expensive, but wages stay the same, Anis says.
He also describes how difficult it is to support his family when money is scarce and work is irregular. Sometimes my family needs money, they need help, and I don’t have enough to give them. […] It hurts me.
Javier Alvarez / SOS MEDITERRANEE
Beyond the economic difficulties, the human rights situation in Tunisia has also deteriorated. In September 2026, Human Rights Watch reported a concentration of power around President Kaïs Saïed and violations targeting political opponents, journalists and civil society organisations. In 2025, three West African survivors rescued by the Ocean Viking also testified that they had been intercepted by Tunisian authorities and then sold to Libyan militias.
Faced with a lack of prospects, Fares, Anis and the 13 other survivors, chose “harga”, a term from the Maghrebi dialect that literally means “those who burn”. It refers to people who leave their country to reach Europe, often crossing the Mediterranean, risking their lives in unseaworthy boats. Among the 15 survivors was a 16-year-old, the youngest on board.
Our dreams aren’t impossible, but in Tunisia, achieving them is becoming increasingly difficult. That’s why so many young people leave, Anis insists.
Javier Alvarez / SOS MEDITERRANEE
When the Ocean Viking crew spots them through binoculars in the Maltese search and rescue zone, the heat is unbearable. Their boat is running low on fuel, and the Italian coast is still far away.
We had four jerrycans of fuel left, and that wasn’t enough. We had no water left. When we saw you, we were happy because we were at risk of disappearing at sea,Anis recalls.
A new beginning, a new uncertainty
On the day they disembark, the anxiety of arriving and starting over is palpable. At the port of Civitavecchia, the young survivors gaze at the enormous cruise ships moored nearby. On the deck of the Ocean Viking, rap songs play one after another through the speakers. The lyrics speak of “harga”, dreams and new beginnings. After the crossing, another stage begins: arriving in Europe and facing uncertainty about what lies ahead
Javier Alvarez / SOS MEDITERRANEE
For Fares, the plan is already beginning to take shape. He hopes to join a friend who moved to Italy several years ago. He wants to find work quickly and support his family back in Tunisia.
If I manage to find a job and improve my family’s living conditions, that will be a great achievement for me, he says.
Just ten days later, the Ocean Viking crew learns about a shipwreck off the coast of Zarzis, in southern Tunisia. Twelve young Tunisians, from the same region as those rescued just days earlier, loose their lives at sea, only a few kilometres from their own shores.
They had also probably decided to cross the sea with the hope of a better life.
