case 1:
Salman, (not his real name) is a 38-year-old man originally from Sylhet, Bangladesh, who has taken the hard way as a beach vendor in Palermo, Italy. He recounts his tumultuous journey from Bangladesh to Italy in 2015. “I played the ‘game’,” Salman explains, using the term Bangladeshi migrants often use for smuggling trips managed by ‘brokers’. His perilous route took him from Dhaka to Dubai, and through the Balkan route, he was smuggled through Serbia to Italy, finally arriving there in December 2015.
The early stages of his time in Italy were not easy. With a failed asylum application behind him and facing daily challenges to make ends meet, he turned to work as a beach vendor. He recalled, “Sometimes I earned 15 euros a day, and then I spent 10 euros on food, and what I had left was not enough to buy things back; , I also had to pay the rent.”
Beaches like Salman Mondello walk for 8 hours and sell earrings, necklaces, scarves and bandanas. Despite the demands of his daily routine, walking many miles and carrying his own luggage, Salman often earns less than €15 a day, a clear reflection of the challenges of his profession. “If you don’t push, you don’t sell anything, because at first everyone says no,” he says, highlighting the frequent rejections he receives from potential customers.
In addition to the stress of their daily routine, the harsh elements of their working environment, especially the constant heat and scorching sand, have taken a toll. “It was exhausting, it hurt,” says Salman. He also shared the taxing reality of beach vendor life: “When I can’t sell products, the summer, the sun and the hot, It becomes painful to walk in the unbearable sand.”
Palermo offered Salman a mixed bag of experiences. He worked various jobs from street vending to restaurant work, yet every summer, he returned to beach vending, where the promise of higher earnings promised. As he became more familiar with the beach vendor landscape, he began frequenting popular beaches near Palermo such as San Vito Lo Capo, Balestrate, Castellammare and Mondello. Salman notes that police checks have become more routine, especially on Mondello Beach, making it tougher for vendors like him.
Adding to his troubles, Salman is battling diabetes, a condition that puts further pressure on his meager earnings. Forced into a carb-heavy diet, mainly rice, Salman lives in a cramped apartment in central Palermo with fellow Bangladeshi men. Reflecting on his challenging journey, Salman poignantly remarks, “We come abroad to work, but if we had known we would have to work on beaches, we would not have come.”