News (Nouakchott) – Tunisia, “Bourguiba’s country, cannot be xenophobic or racist,” said President Bissau-Guinea, rotating president of the Economic Community of West African States “ECOWAS” Amaro Sissoko Embalu.
Sissoko Embalo added, during his reception today at the Carthage Palace, by his Tunisian counterpart, Kais Saied, that the latter’s statements regarding immigrants from sub-Saharan African countries were “misinterpreted.”
Sissoko said, in a video interview published by the Tunisian presidency on its Facebook page, that after his talks with Said, he could confirm that “Tunisia is a country that welcomes Africans,” pledging to convey this to his counterparts, heads of state of ECOWAS members.
Qais Saied, during his presidency of a meeting of the Tunisian National Security Council on February 21, called for “urgent measures” to stop the flow of irregular migrants from sub-Saharan Africa towards the country, stressing that this phenomenon leads to “violence and crimes.”
Said spoke of a “criminal arrangement prepared since the beginning of this century to change the demographic composition of Tunisia” in order to “settle irregular immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa” in the country.
These statements sparked widespread criticism in Africa and some countries of the world, and as a result several countries, including Mali, Guinea Conakry and Ivory Coast, evacuated hundreds of their citizens in Tunisia.
