Tunisia detains at least 200 Ivorian students amidst mounting racism

At least 200 Ivorian students have been detained by Tunisian authorities as part of a crackdown campaign on Sub-Saharan migrants in the North African country.

Ivorian Foundation for Human Rights and Political Observatory (FIDHOP) in a statement Wednesday said the campaign is directed at migrants living in the country who are accused of the increase in criminality.

“It emerges from the report of the Representation of the International Foundation for Human Rights and Pacific Life (FIDHOP) of Tunisia, headed by Mr. Ange SERI SOKA, that at least two hundred Ivorians have been arrested in Tunis, and in many other Tunisian cities,” the foundation said. The arrest circumstances are characterized by non-compliance with the conventional requirements of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948: non-respect of human dignity and inhuman, cruel and degrading treatment,” it added.

The foundation fears that the arrestees may be tried unfairly because of lack of defense.

“FIDHOP expresses its deep indignation and condemns with the utmost energy this barbarism unworthy of the 21st Century!” the statement added.

The foundation also called on the Ivorian authorities, chiefly the Minister of Foreign Affairs, to act urgently to save the detainees. Nationals of several other countries had, over the past, voiced concerns about their treatment by Tunisian authorities and citizens following several cases of racism and discrimination.
In September, Senegalese students presented to President Macky Sall challenges they are facing to study in Tunisia.