Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2025

What you need to know about Tunisia’s anti-racism protests

What you need to know about Tunisia’s anti-racism protests

President Kais Saied says ‘hordes’ of sub-Saharan migrants are causing crime and pose a demographic threat to the North African country, leading to accusations of racism and demonstrations.

Hundreds of people have protested on the streets of the Tunisian capital to denounce President Kais Saied, accusing him of racist comments and hate speech against refugees.

The demonstrators marched on Saturday to denounce racism and demand that the president apologise for his remarks, which included claims of a plot to erase Tunisia’s identity by overrunning it with sub-Saharan Africans.

As the situation becomes tenser and riskier for sub-Saharan Africans in Tunisia, AFP reported on Saturday that Ivorians were heading to their embassy in Tunis to ask for help leaving the country.

Here is what you need to know about the protests:


Who are the sub-Saharan people living in Tunisia?


Tunisia is a key departure point for refugees trying to reach Europe on what the United Nations says is the world’s deadliest migration route.

The country lies about 130km (80 miles) from the Italian island of Lampedusa at its closest point.

More than 21,000 sub-Saharan Africans live in Tunisia, including those with student visas and other legal residencies, according to the FTDES advocacy group, which cited official figures.

Many people from Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea and the Ivory Coast work in poorly paid, informal jobs to get by and save up for attempts to reach Italy.

Ivorians wait outside the Ivory Coast’s embassy in Tunis for their repatriation to Abidjan on February 24, 2023


What did Saied say?


At a meeting of the National Security Council on Tuesday, Saied said “hordes” of sub-Saharan migrants were causing crime and posed a demographic threat to Tunisia.

He said “urgent measures” were needed to address the entry of people from sub-Saharan countries, accusing them of “violence” and “crimes”.

“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,” Saied claimed.

He alleged that unnamed parties had settled sub-Saharan Africans in Tunisia over the past decade in return for money, according to comments published by the presidency online.

Dozens of sub-Saharan Africans have been arrested this month in a major crackdown.


What has the reaction been in Tunisia?


The protesters on Saturday denounced Saied’s comments and the actions taken against migrants by authorities.

“Down with fascism, Tunisia is an African country,” they chanted. “President of shame, apologise,” they demanded.

Artists, human rights activists and members of civil society groups took part in the rally.

Romdhane Ben Amor, a spokesperson for the Tunisian Forum for Social and Economic Rights, said the number of racist assaults against sub-Saharan Africans had increased after Saied’s remarks.

Hundreds of people took part in the protests on February 25, 2023


“We noted attempts to drive some migrants out of their homes,” he told AP news agency. “Others are being prevented from taking public transportation.”

Tunisian comedian Fatma Saidane denounced “deplorable actions” targeting some sub-Saharan people and called on people to show a civic-minded attitude.

“We must not assault or insult people who live on our soil in the same way we don’t accept our compatriots to be ill-treated in Europe,” she said, according to AP.

The Saied government has come under severe criticism from opposition and human rights groups in recent months for arresting political opponents who have criticised his rule and the economic woes the North African country finds itself in.

In July 2021, Saied shut down parliament, dismissed the government and moved to rule by decree before rewriting the constitution, moves his critics call a coup that has pulled apart the democracy built after Tunisia’s 2011 revolution.


What has been the reaction in Africa?


The African Union has condemned Tunisia and urged it to avoid “racialised hate speech”.

“The Chairperson of the African Union Commission HE Moussa Faki Mahamat strongly condemns the shocking statement issued by Tunisian authorities targeting fellow Africans which go against the letter and the spirit of our Organization and founding principles,” a statement from the African Union said.

It reminded Tunisia of its obligations within the 55-member bloc. Faki said member states are obligated “to treat all migrants with dignity, wherever they come from; refrain from racialised hate speech that could bring people to harm; and prioritise their safety and human rights”.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
×