Tunisian authorities have dismantled makeshift camps housing 7,000 sub-Saharan African migrants and begun forcibly deporting some, a senior official confirmed to Reuters on Saturday amid the country’s escalating migrant crisis.
Houssem Eddine Jebabli, an official with the National Guard, reported that several migrants were arrested for violence during the operation. He added that forced repatriations began Friday night, with efforts also underway to facilitate voluntary repatriations for thousands more.
While Jebabli did not provide exact figures, he noted that a significant number had been deported and that bladed weapons, including knives and swords, were confiscated.
Tunisia's government said about 20,000 migrants live in tents in forests in southern towns such as Amra and Jbeniana, after authorities prevented them from traveling across the Mediterranean.
Migrants have frequently clashed with local residents, who want them deported from their area.
Local human rights groups have criticized the authorities, accusing them of racist rhetoric, incitement against migrants, and condemning a crackdown that led to the imprisonment of activists who helped African migrants.
President Kais Saied said in 2023 that the arrival of thousands of illegal migrants from sub-Saharan African countries was a "conspiracy to change the country’s demographic makeup."
That prompted the African Union to condemn what it called Tunisia’s "hate speech" against migrants, an allegation Saied called unfair.
Tunisia has earned praise from Italian authorities in recent months for its progress in stemming the flow of thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa trying to reach Europe by boat.
