This time, it's over. "The journey is broken," they say. Their minds are empty, and so are their pockets. For these Senegalese, Ivorian or Sierra Leonean migrants, the beaches near El Amra, close to the city of Sfax in central-eastern Tunisia, have become the end of their "adventure." Europe, their ultimate desire, remains an elusive dream. Still inaccessible.

Another path emerges for them, that of returning home. An idea that was once unimaginable is now whispered about. What else is there to do? Reaching the Italian island of Lampedusa from the beaches of Chebba or Salakta has become almost impossible. Since January 1, only 432 migrants have managed to reach it, aboard makeshift vessels, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). They were over 18,000 during the same period two years ago.

This dramatic drop in clandestine crossings is explained by the agreement signed in the summer of 2023 between Tunisia and the European Union (EU). With €260 million in aid to strengthen, among other things, the Tunisian coast guard, the maritime route is now sealed. "We're stuck," lamented Fatoumata Camara, a 27-year-old Guinean woman, while trying to warm her three-month-old daughter Maryam on her chest in the early evening.

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