In Tunisia, testimonies of attacks on sub-Saharans have multiplied in different areas of the country since the controversial remarks made on February 21, 2023, by Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed on the uncontrolled masses of migrants from the south of the continent.
In Tunisia, security measures against sub-Saharan migrants in an irregular situation are tightening and random attacks continue. Thirty-three sub-Saharan migrants were taken into custody in Kasserine, in the center-west of the country, for illegal entry into the territory and 69 were arrested over the weekend for the same reason, according to the Tunisian national guard.
In Sfax, in the east of the country, four sub-Saharan migrants were victims of stabbings on the night of February 25, while in Tunis, four Ivorian students were attacked on leaving their university hostel as well as a Gabonese woman who left her home on Saturday as well.
Student associations continue to call on students not to leave their homes. Aggressions passed over in silence in Tunisia.
“ What is happening is a serious crime ”
In the Tunisian media, nothing filtered on February 26 from these attacks which took place in the city of Sfax. Only the associations relayed the testimonies of four victims who had to be taken to hospital after stabbing attacks in the Cité El Ons district of the city. Several local representatives went to assist them at the Habib Bourguiba hospital in Sfax.
The homes of these people of Guinean, Ivorian, Malian and Cameroonian nationalities were looted by their attackers.
The director of the Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights, Mostafa Abdelkebir, confirmed in a Facebook post that migrants were thrown out of their homes and their property vandalized. ” What is happening is a serious crime,” he said. I call on the authorities to assume their responsibilities”.
In Tunis, on Saturday, several sub-Saharan female students were assaulted on leaving their university halls and their homes, according to the press release from the Association of Sub-Saharan Students and Interns published on Sunday. The statement invites students to stay one more week at home, and to call a number in case of abuse.
“I fear for my daughter and I fear for my wife”
For several days, many migrants have not dared to leave their homes. Many exchange messages via WhatsApp to give their news and share the latest information or reports of attacks via social networks. In Bhar Lazreg, a district in the northern suburbs of Tunis where sub-Saharans usually coexist with Tunisians, many are now cloistered at home.
An Ivorian living in this neighborhood testifies anonymously: “I have been in Tunisia since 2015 and I am with my little family and everything. And, since these events started and after the first speech of the president, there were many things which happened in the other districts. Since then, every night, there are always attacks. There are Tunisians who break into houses, who break, who steal, who loot. There are many isolated cases. Currently, there are people who are trapped, who are in neighborhoods where they cannot go out, even to buy food. And myself, at the moment, I am very sad.”
He adds: “I am with my little family. We are waiting for Monday to go to the embassy to register and leave for Côte d’Ivoire. Because right now I can’t stay here anymore. Because, with what I really see, I am very sad. I fear for my daughter and I fear for my wife.”
