Tensions in Tunisia have escalated as demonstrators protested outside the European Union headquarters seeking better rights for migrants. Tunisian authorities have been targeting migrant communities with arrests and the demolition of tent camps. This crackdown on migrants has resulted in fewer people taking the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean Sea this year, aligning with the objectives set by the EU as part of a billion-dollar deal. However, human rights activists argue that the crackdown has had a detrimental impact on the tens of thousands of migrants stuck in Tunisia.
Demonstrators have criticized the security-centric approach taken by both Tunisia and European governments in driving their migration policies. Signs at protests have decried Tunisia’s cooperation with Italy and Europe, while also mourning the lives lost by Tunisians who have died or gone missing at sea. Migrants continue to clash with police along the central coastline, near small towns where farmers are growing increasingly wary of encampments in olive groves. The number of migrants reaching Italy has decreased significantly, but in Tunisia, an opposite reality is unfolding as authorities have thwarted migration attempts and prevented thousands of migrants from reaching Europe.
President Kaïs Saïed has acknowledged the deportation of migrants from coastal cities to the borderlands in collaboration with neighboring countries. He has accused pro-migrant activists of being funded to help settle migrants without legal status in Tunisia. Several activists, including anti-discrimination activist Saadia Mosbah and former asylum rights group president Sherifa Riahi, have been arrested in connection with financial crimes related to assisting migrants. The authorities have arrested more than 80 migrants in Tunis after clashes with law enforcement during the clearance of encampments in the capital that were said to be “disturbing the peace.”
The crackdown on migrants comes in the context of efforts by North African and European officials to curb human trafficking and prevent deaths at sea. While the EU aims to limit migration through development assistance and border patrols, thousands of migrants continue to make the perilous journey across the Mediterranean in search of a better life. European countries have pledged billions of dollars to countries like Tunisia, Mauritania, and Egypt to provide government aid, migrant services, and border patrols. Despite these efforts, the issue of migration remains a complex and challenging one, with tensions escalating in Tunisia as authorities crack down on migrant communities and activists seeking to help them.
