In Tunisia, associations evoke a hateful and racist speech which is spreading in the country

It all started with a statement by the Tunisian President, Kaïs Saïed, who denounced, on Tuesday 21 February, the arrival of “hordes of illegal immigrants” pertaining, according to him, to a “criminal enterprise to change the demographic makeup of Tunisia.” However, since this declaration, the climate in the country has deteriorated considerably, especially for black migrants from central Africa.

>>> “It’s an explosion of hatred”: how Tunisia is set ablaze around sub-Saharan immigration after the words of President Kaïs

Tensions are high and fear is setting in. So many frightened Ivorians are trying to find refuge in front of their country’s embassy, ​​but we can also add the emergency repatriation this week of 50 Guineans to their homes, or even the Malian declarations which consider the situation unacceptable for their nationals. So why such panic? So because of the statements of the Tunisian President who has decided to make migrants the scapegoats of the crisis that his country is going through. Kaïs Saïed plays the nationalism card, complains about migrants, accuses foreign parties of wanting to destabilize Tunisia and speaks above all of a great replacement, implying that soon Tunisians will be a minority in the country.

Concern rises among migrants

This speech is followed by the reactivation of a law of 1968 which condemns those who accommodate migrants in an irregular situation, in particular sub-Saharan migrants. Many foreigners therefore find themselves on the street, evicted from their homes. Anti-racism associations speak of hateful and racist speech that is spreading in the country. These same associations directly accuse the Tunisian President of being responsible for this situation. It is indeed the first time that such a speech has been made at the highest level of the State. This is what frightens because the statements of the Tunisian President legitimize racist remarks and attitudes. One can for example read on certain walls in Tunis sentences of the kind, “kill the blacks”. Concern is mounting among migrants crossing Tunisia.

You should know that according to the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights, there would be in the country a little more than 20,000 sub-Saharan Africans for a population of 12 million inhabitants. And this Tunisian variation of the great replacement claimed by the Tunisian President comes at a particular time. Tunisia is indeed in crisis and Kaïs Saïed’s promises are not kept. He had promised to bring more social justice, but four years after his election there is a feeling of failure. It is by playing on fears and the idea of ​​a foreign party that would like to destabilize the country that he is trying to establish his power in a Tunisia that seems to be going back to the past. That is to say at the time when Tunisia looked more like a dictatorship than a democracy. The fact remains that Tunisian civil society still exists, it will demonstrate on Saturday March 4 in Tunis against its President and his policy.