Do not reduce Tunisia to the racist remarks of its president. This is the wish of the volunteers who support the sub-Saharan migrants still present.
In a cobbled alley in the Tunisian capital, canvases are attached to the walls of a nearby garden to form shelters. You can also see a few tents, draped with blankets to keep the rain and cold out. A group of men is seated around a fire, themselves surrounded by piles of garbage. At nightfall, the refugees fear new attacks.
All of them live outside because they were evicted by their landlords, anxious not to be worried in turn by renting to nationals from sub-Saharan Africa.
“These campfires serve as guard posts at night,” Josephus explains as he broadcasts the scene live.
A risky business
In a statement that caused a scandal, Tunisian President Kais Saied accused sub-Saharan African migrants of being “criminals” and of wanting to replace the local Tunisian population. His remarks sparked a wave of racist attacks and police brutality.
Faced with this, some Tunisians reacted by coming to support the migrants who still live in the country. “There is a group of about 50 Tunisians helping us,” a woman who only wants to be identified as Amal told DW.
These Tunisian volunteers take the risk of being assaulted or arrested in turn by the police. Despite everything, about thirty organizations mobilized to bring materials for the tents, food, and nappies for children. Some also house mothers and children: “It’s as if we were trying to learn to live in the middle of a war,” Amal says with a sigh.
Multiple help
Some play mediators in the conflict between Tunisian landlords and tenants from sub-Saharan Africa, to avoid new arbitrary evictions .
Others deliver groceries to families who refuse to go out, fearing they will be assaulted. They have created donation pages to raise funds for this purpose. Members of the Tunisian Organization of Young Doctors also visit the camps in the evening.
According to local rights groups, nearly 50,000 sub-Saharan Africans live in Tunisia. Mainly people from Sierra Leone, but also from Guinea, Mali, and Nigeria. Some live legally as students, others are undocumented workers but exempt from the need for a visa for stays of less than three months.
