By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Tunisian rights groups have accused President Kais Saied of spreading hate speech and committing racism against African migrants after the Tunisian leader vowed to ban undocumented sub-Saharan African immigration to his country.
Speaking in a meeting with the National Security Council on Tuesday, President Saied said the influx of sub-Sahara African migrants is targeted at changing Tunisia’s demographic make-up and must be ended.
“The undeclared goal of the successive waves of illegal immigration is to consider Tunisia a purely African country that has no affiliation to the Arab and Islamic nations,” he said.
Saied also accused opposition parties, whom he did not name of settling African migrants in Tunisia in return for money.
Right groups dismissed the comment as racist against African migrants as seen in Europe and other Western countries.
“It is a racist approach just like the campaigns in Europe… the presidential campaign aims to create an imaginary enemy for Tunisians to distract them from their basic problems,” said Ramadan Ben Amor, spokesperson for the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights.
Tunisia is a major transit point for migrants and refugees seeking to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, including growing numbers of both Tunisians and people from other African countries.
Recent social media campaigns in Tunisia have urged authorities to stop African migrants travelling through Tunisia on their way to Europe or settling in the country, as thousands have done.
Tunisian authorities have this month cracked down on migrants, detaining dozens of them.
The president is engaged in an escalating confrontation with critics who accuse him of a coup for shutting down parliament and seizing most powers in 2021, and police have this month detained many leading opposition figures.
Saied has said his actions were legal and necessary to save Tunisia from chaos.
