Rights group accuses Tunisian forces of abuses against African migrants

Tunisian security forces have committed "serious abuses" against black African migrants, according to new research from Human Rights Watch. In response, the NGO has called on the European Union to suspend migration control funding to Tunisia.

The Tunisian Maritime National Guard approaches a boat at sea carrying people from different African countries near the coast of Sfax, Tunisia, on 18 April 2023 © 2023 AP Photo

The abuses documented by Human Rights Watch (HRW) include beatings, use of excessive force, some cases of torture, arbitrary arrests and detention, collective expulsions, dangerous actions at sea, forced evictions, and theft of money and belongings.

Tunisia has been engulfed in a migrant crisis since the beginning of the year.

“Tunisian authorities have abused black African foreigners, fuelled racist and xenophobic attitudes, and forcibly returned people fleeing by boat who risk serious harm in Tunisia,” said Lauren Seibert, refugee and migrant rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.

🚨New @hrw report documents grave abuses against Black African migrants, refugees, & asylum seekers in recent yrs by #Tunisia police, military, & nat’l/coast guard: beatings, torture, arbitrary detention, collective expulsions, dangerous actions at sea…🧵 https://t.co/m1vTZNurjY pic.twitter.com/U5ckCn8Lnw

— Lauren Seibert (@LozSeibert) July 19, 2023

“By funding security forces who commit abuses during migration control, the EU shares responsibility for the suffering of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in Tunisia."

Lengthy investigation

Since March, Human Rights Watch has conducted phone and in-person interviews with 24 people, including 22 men, one woman, and one young girl who lived in Tunisia.

Among them were 19 migrants, four asylum seekers, and one refugee, from Senegal, Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, and Sudan.

Nineteen had entered Tunisia between 2017 and 2022, twelve illegally and seven legally.

HRW also interviewed four representatives from civil society groups in Tunisia, including the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES), Lawyers Without Borders (ASF), EuroMed Rights, the rescue hotline network Alarm Phone, volunteers and journalists.

Some had interviewed or assisted dozens of migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees in Tunisia, and knew of, or had documented, cases of abuse by the police or coast guard.

#Tunisia is abusing migrants and asylum seekers horrifically, while #TeamEurope top EU politicians are tripping over themselves to give Tunisia anti-migrant money.

Read @astroehlein’s take on this “blood money” deal: https://t.co/0dulVMCe4O pic.twitter.com/DuVHOcd42M

— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) July 19, 2023

The findings show that up to 1,200 black Africans were expelled or forcibly transferred by Tunisian security forces to land borders with Libya and Algeria in early July 2023.

The documented abuses took place between 2019 and 2023, but the majority occurred after President Kais Saied ordered security forces to crack down on irregular migration in February this year.

His comments linking undocumented African migrants to crime and a “conspiracy” to change Tunisia’s demographics were followed by a surge in hate speech, discrimination, and attacks.

• Tunisian president accused of racism towards migrants from sub-Saharan Africa

Dangerous deal

On 16 July, the European Union announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tunisia on a new “strategic partnership” and a funding package of up to €1 billion for the country, including €105 million for “border management, search and rescue, anti-smuggling and return.”

• Tunisia and EU sign pact to fight illegal immigration

The MoU still has to be formaly approval by EU member states.

However, HRW underlines that the deal failed to include guarantees that Tunisian authorities would prevent violations of the rights of migrants and asylum seekers.

The group also worries that EU financial or material support would not reach the entities protecting human rights.

“Both the EU and the Tunisian government need to fundamentally reorient their approach to migration challenges,” HRW's Seibert said.

“Border control is no justification for trampling rights and ignoring international protection responsibilities,” she concluded. 

(with newswires)