Ivorian families waiting to be repatriated, in front of the Ivorian embassy in Tunis, February 27, 2023. JIHED ABIDELLAOUI / REUTERS
Nearly 300 Ivorians and Malians wishing to flee Tunisia after attacks and demonstrations of hostility targeting nationals of sub-Saharan Africa will be repatriated on Saturday, AFP learned on Friday from official sources in Abidjan and Tunis. “A departure on Air Côte d’Ivoire is scheduled for Saturday at 7 a.m. (6 a.m. Paris time) with 145 passengers on board“, declared the Ivorian ambassador in Tunis, Ibrahim Sy Savané, interviewed from Abidjan. “The number of return candidates reaches 1,100 so far“, he continued.
The Malian embassy in Tunis has meanwhile indicated that a plane capable of transporting 150 people had been chartered on the orders of the head of the junta, Colonel Assimi Goita. The plane will leave Tunis at 08:00 on Saturday (07:00 Paris time). These are the first repatriation flights to Côte d’Ivoire and Mali since the speech on February 21 by Tunisian President Kais Saïed, who announced “urgent measuresagainst illegal immigration from sub-Saharan Africa.
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“Racist” speech
In this speech described as “racistby NGOs, he had affirmed that their presence in Tunisia was a source ofviolence, crimes and unacceptable acts“. According to Ange Séri Soka, head of an association of Ivorian nationals in Tunisia, who returned to Abidjan this week, “Tunisia has become an open-air prison todayfor migrants from sub-Saharan Africa.
“The question of the residence permit blocks everything“, he continued during a press conference in Abidjan, saying that it was almost impossible for migrant workers to obtain this sesame in Tunisia. “Without a residence permit, you cannot go to the police station if you are attacked, you work illegally” And “it encourages abuse of power“, he said. Many of the 21,000 migrants from sub-Saharan African countries officially registered in Tunisia, most of them in an irregular situation, lost their jobs (usually informal) and their homes overnight. Others were arrested for police checks and some testified to physical assaults.
SEE ALSO – Tunisia: an NGO denounces President Saied’s “racist and hateful” speech against migrants