The Government of Irregular Migration in Sfax

This article examines power dynamics between city and central State relations in Tunisia, focusing on the government of migration in Sfax, a southern city. The study describes the emergence of Sfax as a migratory hub and its migratory ecosystem. It argues that the absence of a central strategy has reshaped both local and central powers, shifting from community empowerment to risk management, resulting in a “patchwork” approach of ad hoc measures. The role of local actors is analyzed, both considering the “government of the living” and the “government of the dead”, with particular attention to the creation of “numeric anonymous identities” for deceased migrants, driven by neoliberal practices and rising shipwreck deaths. Between 2022 and 2023, economic austerity, food shortages, and climate change deepened reliance on cheap migrant labor in fishing and farming, making smuggling a necessary survival strategy in Sfax.