Tunisia deports African migrants to Algerian borders

Tunisia has intensified its crackdown on Sub-Saharan migrants abandoning scores on the borders with Algeria, which has been turning a blind eye to migrants’ crossing for years.

Authorities have dismantled makeshift camps by migrants and took many to the borders with Algeria, the Tunisian forum for economic and social rights said.

Tunisian elites are increasingly accusing the authorities of laxity in dealing with Sub-Saharan migrants, who transit from Tunisia to Italian islands.

Stoked by an anti-migrant rhetoric espoused at state level by the President himself, Tunisians have protested often violently leading to clashes with migrants on multiple occasions.

On Saturday in Sfax, thousands of Tunisians demanded the deportation of Sub-Saharan migrants from their country.

Tunisia’s president has fueled anti-migrant sentiment in the country when he spoke last year about the “great replacement” of Tunisians by Sub-Saharans.

In 2023, at least 1313 died in the risky Mediterranean crossing from Tunisian coasts to Italy, the forum said.

The number highlights that the country has overtaken Libya as the main crossing point to Europe.

In 2023, Tunisian authorities foiled over 6,000 “irregular migration attempts” and arrested 80,000 irregular migrants on Tunisian coasts, 18% of whom were Tunisian citizens.

The country, that was once an Arab spring success story, reels under high unemployment, inflation and authoritarian policies, following President Kais Saied power grab.