The human rights NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Friday (June 7) urged Tunisia to end the "collective expulsions" of African migrants to a desert area near the Libyan border.
Hundreds of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa find themselves in a very precarious situation in a desert area in southern Tunisia, after being driven out in recent days from the city of Sfax (center-east) amid intense tensions. with the local population who demanded their departure, according to testimonies collected by AFP.
A wave of violence fell on Tuesday and Wednesday on these migrants after one of them killed a resident of the city during a brawl. "Tunisian security forces have collectively deported several hundred Black African migrants and asylum seekers, including children and pregnant women, since July 2, 2023 to a remote and militarized buffer zone on the Tunisia-Libya border “, HRW said in a statement.
An increasingly xenophobic discourse
"Many people have reported violence from the authorities during their arrest or deportation," the NGO added. She called on the Tunisian government to "end collective expulsions and urgently allow humanitarian access" to these migrants who have "little food and no medical assistance", Lauren Seibert said in the statement. , refugee rights researcher at HRW.
Migrants interviewed by the NGO said that "several people died or were killed in the border area between July 2 and 5, some of whom were shot or beaten by the Tunisian army or the national guard", according to the press release from HRW, which however specifies that it is not able to confirm these allegations for lack of access to the area.
HRW called on Tunisia to "investigate security forces implicated in abuses and bring them to justice." “African migrants and asylum seekers, including children, are desperate to get out of the dangerous border area and find food, medical care and safety,” Ms. Seibert added: “There is no there's no time to lose."
An increasingly openly xenophobic discourse against these migrants has spread since Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed condemned illegal immigration in February, presenting it as a demographic threat to his country.
