Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia have long been places of refuge for migrants from West Africa. Out and about with hairdresser Christine Bela in her new home in Tunis, where tensions between immigrants like her and locals are increasing.
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Mirco Keilberth, Tunis
When Christine Bela is sitting in the tram, she prefers to look stubbornly straight ahead. The 32-year-old hairdresser from Ivory Coast travels six days a week from the La Soukra district to the center of Tunis. In the always overcrowded carriages, the atmosphere is often tense to the breaking point. “As a woman with dark skin, I feel the anger of many Tunisians about the prices rising every week and falling wages directly in the form of racism,” she says. Critical looks or snide remarks in public have greatly increased in the four years she has been living in Tunisia. “I’ve learned to ignore looks. But in the evenings I don’t dare go out on the street anymore.”