Tunisian president rejects racism accusation after migrant crackdown
Tunisian president has denounced racism and pointed to possible legal consequences for perpetrators 10 days after announcing a crackdown on illegal migration using language the African Union condemned as “racialised hate speech“.
During a statement on 21st February telling security forces to expel all illegal immigrants, President Kais Saied called migration a conspiracy to change Tunisia’s demographics by making it more African and less Arab.
Police detained hundreds of migrants, landlords summarily evicted hundreds from their homes and hundreds of others were fired from work, rights groups say.
Many migrants said they had been attacked, including being pelted with stones by gangs of youths in their neighbourhoods, and rights groups said police had been slow to respond to such assaults.
While Saied denied racism in a statement on 23rd February, he repeated his view of immigration as a demographic plot.
Before Sunday, Saied had not publicly warned of any legal consequences for the attacks.
In Sunday’s statement he described the accusations of racism as a campaign against the country “from known sources”, without elaborating.
But he added that Tunisia was honoured to be an African country and announced a relaxation of visa rules for African citizens, allowing stays of up to six months instead of three without seeking residency, and of a year for students.
He said migrants who had overstayed could leave without penalty after many of those authorities sought to deport had proven unable to pay fines for late stays.
Reuters
