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TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisian police on Friday used tear gas to disperse protesters trying to reach the island of Djerba where leaders of French-speaking countries are due to hold a summit this weekend, witnesses said on Friday.
For several weeks, protests have erupted in the town of Zarzis, which is linked to Djerba by a long bridge, due to the reaction deemed dismissive by the Tunisian government to the sinking of migrants from the town in the Mediterranean Sea, while were looking to reach Europe.
“We wanted to protest and make our voices heard in Djerba, but the authorities responded with force and we were repressed,” said Salim Zuraidat, one of the protesters.
The government is criticized for not having launched an initial search for the castaways and for having buried the bodies before their identification.
A spokesman for Tunisia’s interior ministry said it had no immediate details or comment on Friday’s events.
Tunisian President Kais Saied is due to host President Emmanuel Macron and other leaders in Djerba on Saturday and Sunday, as part of the Francophonie summit.
(Report Tarek Amara, written by Angus McDowall, French version Dina Kartit, edited by Kate Entringer)
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