Tunisians protest against undocumented sub-Saharan African migrants

Protesters gathered on Saturday at midday outside the headquarters of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the Lac district of Tunis, demanding the deportation of undocumented sub-Saharan African migrants and calling on the organization to leave Tunisia.

Among the participants were activists who were seen organizing demonstrators before joining the protest.

The demonstration took place under a heavy security presence, with numerous security vehicles surrounding the UNHCR headquarters and protesters kept at a distance from the building.

As the protest drew to a close, some activists were seen standing opposite the heavily secured headquarters before leaving the area together as security forces remained deployed around the compound.

Migration is a sensitive issue in Tunisia, a key transit point for tens of thousands of people seeking to reach Europe each year.

In February 2023, President Kais Saied said “hordes of illegal migrants”, many from sub-Saharan Africa, posed a demographic threat to the Arab-majority country.

His speech triggered a series of racially motivated attacks as thousands of sub-Saharan African migrants in Tunisia were pushed out of their homes and jobs.

Thousands were repatriated or attempted to cross the Mediterranean, while others were expelled to the desert borders with Algeria and Libya, where at least a hundred died that summer.