Tunisia's president says sub-Saharan migrants threaten country's identity

Tunisian President Kais Saied has criticized unauthorized immigration from sub-Saharan Africa, stating that it was intended to alter the demographics of his country and must end. 

Racist comments 

Saied’s remark came during a meeting with the National Security Council, during which he stressed that unauthorized immigration into Tunisia must be stopped immediately. He added that the illegal immigrants consider the country as “purely African” and weaken its Arabic and Islamic identity, according to France 24. 

President Saied considered the presence of illegal migrants in Tunisia as a source of “violence, crime, and unacceptable acts.” He used language similar to the “great replacement” theory supported by the far right in France and other Western countries, calling for an end to illegal immigration, Le Monde reported. 

In his remarks, Saied said that some parties had relocated African migrants to Tunisia during the previous ten years in exchange for money, France 24 reported. 

Tyrant arrests 

Police have detained more than a dozen opponents during the previous two weeks, in addition to Issam Chebbi, the leader of the Republican party and a well-known opponent, and Chaima Issa, an activist who took part in the 2011 revolution, according to the Guardian. 

On February 16, a number of human rights groups in Tunisia criticized the detention of 300 migrants in a single week. According to them, the migrants were arrested after an identity check based on ethnic profiling or even because they were present in court to support their families, Le Monde reported. 

Saied has claimed on numerous occasions that his opponents are plotting his assassination, calling them traitors and terrorists, the Guardian reported, and he has also targeted the defenseless immigrant community in Tunisia.

Public reaction 

Many analysts believe the president is using his campaign to divert attention away from the difficulties facing the country's citizens and the status of its economy, as well as to allay criticism of his own actions since he suspended the nation's parliament in July 2021, according to the Guardian.

In Tunis, a public gathering was held in response to the president's remarks, where witnesses spoke of raids on entire neighborhoods, children removed from nurseries, and migrant families evicted from their homes. Several migrants have also admitted staying indoors for days at a time out of concern for being detained or arrested. The largest sub-Saharan student union in Tunisia, Aesat, also released a statement urging its members to leave their homes only when absolutely necessary and to always carry identification, the Guardian reported.

Saied's remarks were considered racist by a Tunisian rights group and denounced what they deemed to be hate speech directed against African migrants. On the other hand, authorities in Tunisia have been asked in recent social media campaigns to prevent African migrants from passing through the nation on their way to Europe or from living there, France 24 reported. 

The Tunisian Nationalist Party, an online group, is pushing for the expulsion of sub-Saharan migrants via an online petition and has encouraged the escalation of racist and hateful comments in recent weeks. Early in January, its Facebook page had only a few followers, but recently increased to 50,000, according to Le Monde. 

History 

With a long history in the country, Black Tunisians represent 10% to 15% of the population.  Rights organizations have complained that Tunisia has not done efforts to end racism, France 24 reported. 

According to local NGOs, Tunisia is home to between 30,000 and 50,000 sub-Saharan migrants. Half of the 22,000 illegal immigrants who entered Europe last year (particularly in Italy) from Tunisia were from sub-Saharan Africa. The country's economic circumstances, the difficulty of the regularization processes, and mistreatment from the Tunisian authorities were reasons behind their emigration, according to Le Monde.