North African Country Tunisia Targets & Kicks Out Black African Immigrants After President ‘Race Based’ Speech

After a studious analysis of the rise in crime in the nation of Tunisia, the President of the Republic Of Tunisia, Kais Saied has been caught in a crucial moment to restore the country’s order. President Kais Saied chose a path that has been deemed as stoking xenophobia to deflect from a growing economic and political crisis.

President Blames Black Immigrants For Rise In Crime

The president decided to crack down on immigrants, specifically targeting black immigrants from the sub-Sahara countries and not from neighboring Arab countries such as Egypt, Lybia, Algeria, etc.

On the 22nd of February, the president addressed the nation in a speech that further sparked race hate in a country that already bared tensions between the Arabs and Africans. Saied said that migrants were behind most crime in Tunisia and ordered officials to take “urgent measures” to tackle irregular migration.

“hordes of irregular migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa” had come to Tunisia, “with all the violence, crime, and unacceptable practices that entails”. He said this was an “unnatural” situation and part of a criminal plan designed to “change the demographic make-up” and turn Tunisia into “just another African country that doesn’t belong to the Arab and Islamic nations any more”.

His remarks fueled a spate of sackings, evictions and attacks against African migrants in Tunisia.

Arabs Launch A Wave Of Attacks In Tunisia

Ibrahima Diallo, a Guinean who fled Tunisia as soon as possible, told DW.com he witnessed attacks perpetrated by Tunisians on Black people.

According to him “When the president gave a racial hate speech against Black migrants, the population started interfering and attacking Blacks, mostly women. They grab their telephones from them, beat them,” Diallo said. “I witnessed many attacks.” Attacks are still ongoing today.

In an article published by Amnesty.com ‘ President Saied’s discriminatory and hateful remarks during a National Security Council meeting on 21 February triggered an upsurge in anti-Black racist violence, with mobs taking to the streets and attacking Black migrants, students and asylum seekers, and police officers detaining and deporting scores.’

Saied defended his remarks by stating he’s falsely accused of racism by political opponents and only seeks to ensure laws on illegal migration are enforced. Despite the damage done, and the terror initiated, he’s told authorities not to apprehend Africans who reside legally in Tunisia.

His spokesman, Walid El Hajjam, didn’t reply to written questions about the violence against sub-Saharan African migrants and how authorities intend to stop it.

Extraction

Burkina Faso and Mali invited their nationals to register for repatriation flights while hundreds of Ivorian expatriates sought refuge at their country’s embassy.

Guinea was the first sub-Saharan country to start repatriating its nationals from Tunisia following the clampdown on migrants.

Guinea’s Foreign Minister Morysanda Kouyate accompanied the first planeload of Guinean returnees. One of the passengers, Mohamed Cisse, described his gratitude to the Guinean government. “Really, they have helped us, we were in a distress. This is a big relief,” Cisse said.

The embassies of Ivory Coast and Mali provided emergency accommodation for dozens of their citizens evicted from their homes, including young children. The first flight from Tunis landed in Mali last weekend with 135 Malians on board. Among them was Korotoumi Diakite.

Where Did The Arabs Come From

Once upon a time in the northern region of Africa. Tunisia was dominated by black Africans until the 7th century AD who welcomed Arab immigrants into the country. After a wave of violence that pursued afterward, Arab Muslims conquered all of Tunisia (finally succeeding in 697 after several attempts starting in 647) and settled with their tribes and families, brought Islam and Arab culture to the local inhabitants, and since then Arabs became the majority of the population.

The Arabs then began executing the original black people of Tunisia all whilst initiating slavery. Today, between 10 and 15% of Tunisians are black, many descended from slaves. What few can dispute is the relative lack of black Tunisians in politics or the media. According to a 2018 Afrobarometer survey, black Tunisians reported a variety of disadvantages, the most important of which was unemployment, at about 42%, compared with 25% nationally.

Source:
Wikipedia.com
theguardian.com
dw.com
bloomberg.com,
amnesty.org

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