In the press release below, organizations urge the Tunisian authorities to facilitate access to economic and social rights for migrants.
In Tunisia, the year 2023 was marked by a racist and xenophobic state approach, initiated by the declaration of the President of the Republic on February 21, 2023, where he spoke of the “hordes of sub-Saharan migrants” as a threat to the “demographic composition” national.
The repercussions of this declaration resulted in a terrible wave of violence across the country, internal displacements, arbitrary arrests, and disappearances, the effects of which persist today.
Since July 2023, when Tunisia and the European Union signed a Memorandum of Understanding, thousands of migrants have been arrested, whether in the streets or at home, then expelled to desert and militarized border areas. the border with Libya and Algeria.
On December 18, 2023, a report entitled “The routes of torture: Mapping the violations suffered by people on the move in Tunisia” collected and revealed the testimonies of around twenty people in migration situations who had been victims of violence, as well as as the observations of 30 civil society organizations and activists.
Institutional and police violence has reached its peak with the development of networks trafficking people of sub-Saharan origin handed over to Libyan militias at the border.
Many testimonies mention exchanges of money between the parties involved during the forced transfer of migrants from Tunisia to Libya.
Furthermore, the increase in cases of kidnappings/kidnappings in the city of Sfax, where hundreds of people on the move are subjected to torture until a ransom is paid, is rooted in state policies of irregularity and socio-economic precariousness of migrants, who find themselves without resources and exposed due to a repressive security policy.
In addition, more and more women in migration situations report having suffered sexual violence, a phenomenon which seems to be widespread with total impunity, and in a context of extreme vulnerability of people on the move, while the criminalization of individuals considered to be in an irregular situation now prevails.
As migration cooperation with the EU continues to strengthen, Tunisian authorities continue to blatantly violate their human rights obligations. Both parties must stop any cooperation that harms the lives and dignity of people.
This bitter observation, shared by civil society organizations, demonstrates that human rights violations against people in migration situations have become widespread and normalized.
Signatory organizations:
– Recall that freedom of movement is a fundamental right, as stipulated in Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights since 1948, which everyone must be able to enjoy;
– denounce the daily violence suffered by people on the move in Tunisia, victims of regularization and criminalization procedures exacerbated by a security approach;
– underline that security cooperation on migration between the EU and Tunisia has contributed to the current dramatic situation;
– ask the State to ensure respect for the human rights and security of migrants;
– urge the Tunisian authorities to facilitate access to economic and social rights for migrants.
Signatory organizations:
Tunisian League for Human Rights / LTDH
Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights FTDES
Lina Ben Mhenni Association
Lawyers without borders
Al Bawsala
Africa Intelligence
Federation of Tunisians for citizenship on both shores – FTCR
Committee for the respect of freedoms and human rights in Tunisia (CRLDHT)
Nomad08 Association
Nachaz Association
Tunisian association for the defense of individual freedoms
Union of Unemployed Graduates UDC
South Citizen Dancers
Tunisian Association for Rights and Freedoms
Association for the Promotion of the Right to Difference (ADD)
Trails Association
Street Art Association
Intersection for rights and freedoms
The Association for Leadership and Development in Africa (Alda)
Calam
Children of the Moon Association
Legal Agenda Tunisia
EuroMed Rights
CCFD-Terre Solidaire
Watch The Med – Alarm Phone.
Mnemty
World Organization Against Torture
