An IOM information campaign carried out in partnership with the
Tunisian Ministries of Social Affairs and of the Interior is
currently targeting unemployed young people in rural areas to
inform them of the dangers of irregular migration.

The Italian-funded campaign, which will run at the end of the
year, has enlisted the support of famous Tunisian playwright and
comedian Raouf Ben Yaghlane who has written a hard-hitting play
based on the testimonies of young Tunisians living as irregular
migrants in Italy.

The play titled "Harek Yetmenna" (The Lost Hopes of an Irregular
Migrant) is this week touring small villages in the governorates of
Monastir, Sfax and Gabès, which this year have witnessed an
exodus of young Tunisians embarking on dangerous sea journeys
towards the Italian Island of Lampedusa.

Each show is preceded by an hour-long debate on the risks of
irregular migration with the audience, mainly teenagers and their
families.

More than 25,500 Tunisians took to the sea in the aftermath of
the fall of the Ben Ali regime on 14 January 2011 with the hope of
finding work or joining their families or friends in Europe.

In response, IOM coordinated with Tunisian NGOs a media outreach
campaign to highlight the risks of irregular migration with funding
from the European Commission-United Nations Joint Migration and
Development Initiative (JMDI).

For more information, please contact:

Nadia Cheikh

IOM Tunis

Tel: +21624290898

E-mail: "mailto:ncheikh@iom.int">ncheikh@iom.int