Tunisians Target African Migrants: Dozens Expelled
Sfax, Wednesday, witnesses reported that racial tensions in the Tunisian coastal city of Sfax erupted into violence against migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, resulting in the forced eviction or flight of dozens of migrants.
According to a local rights organization, police detained some migrants and deported them as far as the Libyan border, more than 300 kilometers (over 200 miles) away.
The latest unrest began following the funeral of a 41-year-old Tunisian man who was fatally stabbed in an altercation between locals and migrants on Monday, leading to the arrest of three Cameroonian suspects.
Online video footage captured young people at the victim’s funeral chanting, “We are going to avenge his death!” Sfax, the second-largest city in North Africa, serves as a departure point for many migrants hoping to reach EU member Italy by sea, typically the island of Lampedusa, located approximately 130 kilometers (80 miles) away.
Hundreds of enraged residents gathered in the streets of Sfax on Tuesday evening, an AFP correspondent reported, demanding the expulsion of all illegal immigrants.
Some individuals blocked streets and lit car tires on fire. Social media videos showed police chasing dozens of migrants from their homes and loading them into police cars, to the cheers of city residents.
On the Facebook page of the community organization Sayeb Trottoir, the emergency room physician Lazhar Neji decried “an inhumane… bloody night that makes you tremble.”
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He stated that the hospital had received 30 to 40 injured migrants, including women and children, and that “some were thrown from terraces while others were attacked with swords.”
Anxiety and ‘psychosis’ Following President Kais Saied’s February comments accusing “hordes” of illegal migrants of bringing violence and alleging a “criminal plot” to alter the country’s demographic composition, there has been an increase in racially motivated attacks in Tunisia.
Tunisia, with a population of 12 million, is home to an estimated 21,000 African migrants, representing 0.2% of the population.
Europe has offered funding to support Tunisia’s efforts to combat illegal migration and stimulate its struggling economy.
Saied visited the interior ministry on Tuesday and emphasized that Tunisia “does not accept that anyone who does not respect its laws stays on its territory, uses it as a transit country, or resettles nationals of certain African countries”
Franck Yotedje, director of the Afrique Intelligence group, stated on Facebook that Tunisia’s violence is once again spreading fear and “psychosis” among migrants, urging the Tunisian government to fulfill its responsibility to “ensure the safety of Sfax residents, Tunisians, and foreigners.”
Tunisians Target African Migrants: Dozens Expelled
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