Ivory Coast and Guinea to repatriate nationals from Tunisia

Two West African states are repatriating their residents from Tunisia following inflammatory remarks by President Kais Saied final week.

Mr Saied stated that unlawful migration was inflicting demographic change in Tunisia, and accused “unlawful hordes” of being behind rising crime.

Dozens of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa have since been detained.

Ivory Coast and Guinea stated they have been sending specifically charted planes to deliver again their nationals.

“Essentially the most pressing factor is to avoid wasting lives, to stop accidents,” Ivory Coast’s authorities spokesman Amadou Coulibaly was quoted as saying by AFP information company.

Tunisia had an estimated 21,000 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa in 2021, according to official figures quoted by a local rights activist who accused Mr Saied of “inciting hatred” and “racial discrimination towards African migrants”.

Mr Saied has denied being racist.

After his feedback, many migrants misplaced their jobs and housing in a single day. Some have reported being bodily assaulted.

A whole lot of Ivorians and Guineans have since registered with their nations’ embassies to be repatriated.

“The undeclared aim of the successive waves of unlawful immigration is to contemplate Tunisia a purely African nation that has no affiliation to the Arab and Islamic nations,” Mr Saied stated.

The African Union – of which Tunisia is a member – condemned the assertion as “stunning”, and warned towards “racialised hate speech”.

About 80% of Tunisians imagine that racial discrimination is an issue of their nation – the very best determine within the Center East and North Africa area, according to a survey published by BBC News Arabic last year.