Two Tunisian Influencers of Tik-Tok caused outrage in their country after the videos they uploaded on social media, on the one hand traveling with illegal immigrants in a boat in the Mediterranean and then sharing pictures from their expensive car rides in the Tower Eiffel.
Chaima Ben Mahmoude, 21, uploaded a video from boat full of immigrants, passing from Tunisia to Italy — which costs over λί 1,000 — with her fiancé. In it, she smiles with 23 other immigrants while dancing to rap music on her seemingly carefree trip to the Mediterranean.
#BenMahmoude #ChaimaBenMahmoude #MattHerbert #SabeealSaidi #alSaidi Tunisian women posts glamorize risky migrant crossings – Westport News https://t.co/rTarjjqpZL
– Tunisia Watch @ ™ (@Tunisia_Watch) February 14, 2022
It is noted that the Central Mediterranean is the deadliest migration route in the world, with more than 17,000 deaths and disappearances recorded since 2014.
As the Daily Mail writes, thousands of refugees are being forced to follow this path to escape war and poverty.
Ben Mahmoude – who has almost 140,000 followers on Tik-Tok – claimed she was “forced” to make the 117-mile (188 km) trip because she only made 90 90 a month from a hairdresser in Tunisia.
One month earlier, Sabee al Saidi, 18, had published a similar photo wearing bright pink lipstick as she posed on the wooden boat during the voyage.
Ormai siamo alla sponsorizazione dell’immigration clandestina verso’Italy pure la influencer tunisina Sabee al Saidi seguitissima sui social ci si mette ora è a Lampedusa in quarantena. Dopo lo sbarco con il cane, il Turista per semper e la pecora beh! andiamo venite tutti! pic.twitter.com/6KWDAOdMBD
– Bruno Paolo Cedrone (@CedroneBruno) November 23, 2021
Ecco i profughi che scappano dalla fame e dalla guerra (di Tunisia).
Lei si chiama Sabee al Saidi, tunisina blogger, content in directory verso le coste italiane su un barchino da clandestina. The Italian leg? Dettagli. Ditelo a Lamorgese pic.twitter.com/nkB7CmeLsv– Annalisa Chirico (@AnnalisaChirico) November 23, 2021
They both landed in Lampedusa, Italy, and then traveled to European cities, taking selfies next to the Eiffel Tower, which were seen by local media and the AP.
The two women have triggered reactions with their posts with the Tunisians back in their homeland criticizing them for “beautifying” a journey that leaves thousands dead every year.
Al Saidi posted a second video in November following reactions that insisted she had to leave Tunisia because of “difficult social conditions”, adding that she did not encourage others to copy her.
Sabee Al Saidi, Tunisian influencer, is trapped in 63,062 clandestines in Italy this year. È approdata 3settimane fa illegally ed ecola sorridente in Italia e gioconda sul barcone carico di migranti definiti “profughi” dalla sinistra. E noi do dovremmo sentirci beffati? pic.twitter.com/jwEs2kAZFZ
– Azzurra Barbuto (@AzzurraBarbuto) December 10, 2021
As she underwent a two-week quarantine for Covid at a detention center in Italy, Ben Mahmoude said she understood the dangers of the trip, which she made in December.
But financial difficulties and her inability to obtain a visa had “forced” her to do the “harka” – the term used in Tunisia for transit.
“I did not find anything for myself in Tunisia,” he said in an interview with Zoom.
Despite her smiles in the posts, she said the trip was scary. “On the boat, we prayed and prepared for death. “When we were told we had arrived in Italian waters, we could not believe it.”
“I have many friends who did the harka and found opportunities in Europe. I want to change my life the way they did,” he said.
Wael Garnaoui, a psychologist who studies harka, says that this hope is largely based on the “immigration lie”, a phenomenon that he says has been intensified by social media.
Experts warn that Miss al Saidi and Miss Ben Mahmoude – social media influencers in Tunisia, with nearly 2 million followers on TikTok and Instagram among themselves – could inspire others to make the dangerous move.
“Social media presents a vision for Europe that is not accurate,” said Matt Herbert, director of research at the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime.
Tunisia is one of the main destinations for migrants from North Africa to Europe, with thousands of Tunisians joining those traveling from elsewhere in Africa and the Middle East each year.
While Tunisia was once a popular tourist destination with a rising middle class, as the country’s economy deteriorated, immigration rates rose
Daily Mail
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