Migrants demonstrated on Friday against the violence they suffered in Sfax after one of them killed a resident of this Tunisian city. Since then, these candidates for departure to Europe have been arrested and expelled by the Tunisian authorities.
“We didn’t come here to stay. We came here just to pass (in Europe) but it’s impossible. The National Guard prevents us from passing. Moreover, we are there and we are not free. Each time, we are attacked. We are being kicked out of our homes so this is not normal. We did not come here to Tunisia to stay. We are just here for a passage (in Europe). », explains Diallo Momoritano, Guinean migrant.
Driven out in recent days from the city of Sfax, many migrants wander in a desert area on the border between Tunisia and Libya. Evictions confirmed by Human Rights Watch.
“At Human Rights Watch, we have documented collective expulsions of black African migrants, both on the side of the border with Libya, where they are estimated to be between 500 and 700. But Tunisian security forces proceed also to expulsions on the side of Algeria but for the moment we have less information on their number. says Salsabil Chellali, director of Human Rights Watch in Tunisia.
Friday, the organization of this defense of human rights called on the Tunisian authorities to put an end to these expulsions of migrants to these risk areas. The intervention of the countries from which these unfortunate people originate was also requested.
“We ask the Tunisian authorities to stop the arbitrary expulsions of black African migrants but also to allow access and assistance to those who are on the borders with Libya and Algeria. The countries of these nationals must also do everything possible to help them,” says the director of Human Rights Watch.
In February, the Tunisian president presented illegal immigration as a demographic threat to his country, fueling hatred against migrants in a country suffocated by an economic crisis.
Source : Africanews
