Tunisia, arrested, beaten and abandoned on the Libyan border: the repression against African migrants continues in Tunisia

ROME – Human rights activists accuse Tunisia of transporting groups of sub-Saharan migrants to the border with Libya and leaving them to fend for themselves, as the EU negotiates a deal with the North African country to stem the flows to Europe .

The record. About twenty migrants and asylum seekers from West and Central Africa were forcibly relocated to the Tunisian-Libyan border near Ben Guerdane on the morning of 2 July by Tunisian army and National Guard officers. There are six women in the group, two of whom are pregnant and one about to give birth, a 16-year-old girl from Cameroon and 13 men. Two of the men are Cameroonian asylum seekers registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). EuroMedrights writes that the group is made up of people from the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Mali, Guinea and Chad. These people, along with 28 others, were arrested on Saturday 1 July in a house in Jbeniana, about 35 km from Sfax. There were 48 of them in all and they were later taken to the Jbeniana police station. Their passports and identification documents have been checked and registered.

Forced transfers. According to activists on the spot, the police then divided the 48 people into two groups. The first of 28 people was then taken to Ben Guerdane and transferred between three National Guard bases. People were beaten and abused and then abandoned at the Libyan border. On July 4, another 100 migrants and refugees were deported to the same place on the Libyan border. The group is made up of various nationalities: Ivorians, Cameroonians and Guineans, with at least 12 children aged between 6 months and 5 years.

Clashes in Sfax. Tensions between Tunisians and sub-Saharan Africans have been going on for months, especially in the coastal town of Sfax, with the police arbitrarily beating and arresting anyone with black skin, explains Lauren Seibert, researcher of Human Rights Watch to the Financial Times. In the clashes of recent days a Tunisian and a man originally from Benin were killed.

The role of Kais Saied. The Tunisian president is considered by activists to be primarily responsible for the current migrant crisis. In February 2023, Saied made a speech in which he accused sub-Saharan migrants of wanting to change the demographic composition of Tunisia and transform it into an African country increasingly distant from Arab traditions. Following those statements, a wave of violence was unleashed in the country which targeted African migrants.

Negotiations with the European Union. Meanwhile talks continue between Brussels and Tunis. The EU could provide more than 1 billion euros to Tunisia, in the midst of the economic crisis, in exchange for greater security at the borders. The project is part of the European political trend of outsourcing border control to stem flows. The package, which includes 105 million euros, was announced last month during a visit to Tunis by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, but the details are not yet clear.