Tunisia under scrutiny for expelling thousands of migrants to Libya, Algeria

Tunisia has found itself in the eye of the storm after French news agency AFP, citing international humanitarian organizations revealed that the North African country expelled at least 5,500 immigrants towards the border with Libya, and 3,000 others toward the border with Algeria since last June.

The AFP report is the most recent accusation against Tunisian authorities condemned in February by human rights and humanitarian organizations for ill treatments of Sub-Saharans using the North African country as transit point to reach the shores of Europe.

President Kais Saied the same month posited that Tunisia was victim of a scheme aiming at flooding it with illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa in a bid to change its demographic composition.

He did not name the people behind the scheme but his remark fueled an anti-Sub-Saharan sentiment that led to scuffles and violence between the Sub-Saharans and Tunisians in several cities including the city of Sfax known as the main transit point.

AFP still citing the organizations also indicated that more than 100 migrants died in the Libyan-Tunisian desert this summer, stressing that “mass expulsions to Libya and Algeria are continuing”.
Tunisian authorities and media denied reports of the expulsions.