Tunisia expels hundreds of migrants from Sfax public square

Sudanese irregular migrants live under difficult conditions in a park in Sfax province of Tunisia, as they wait for an opportunity to seek asylum in Europe illegally, on August 12, 2023. [Yassine Gaidi – Anadolu Agency]

Tunisian security forces have forced hundreds of irregular migrants, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, out of a public square in the city of Sfax after they were thrown out of their homes during unrest in July, Anadolu news agency reported.

The Tunisian official news agency said in a brief statement that security forces forced irregular migrants out of the Rabat Medina Square in the Bab Al-Jabali area in central Sfax.

On Saturday, the Interior Ministry launched a large-scale security campaign to expel irregular migrants from ports, public squares and other areas.

Tunisian Interior Minister Kamal El-Feki estimated the number of irregular migrants in Sfax to be about 17,000 African migrants, out of 80,000 migrants throughout the country.

Tunisian authorities have been rounding up black African migrants, beating them and dumping them in the desert.

In February Tunisian President Kais Saied made a racist, inflammatory speech about black Africans in Tunisia and since then many have been attacked and forced out of the country.

Read: Italy calls for UN intervention to stem rising migrant arrivals from Africa

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