On Tuesday 21 February 2023, the Tunisian President, Kaïs Saïed, violently attacked sub-Saharan Africans during a National Security Council session. He called for “urgent measures” against illegal immigration in his country, saying that the presence of sub-Saharan African migrants was a source of “violence, crime and unacceptable acts” and that the arrival of “hordes of illegal migrants” had to be stopped. Worse, he argued that this illegal immigration was part of a “criminal enterprise hatched at the dawn of this century to change the demographic composition of Tunisia”, in order to transform it into an “African-only” country and blur its “Arab-Muslim” characteristics.

These hateful and racist remarks by Kaïs Saïed thus tarnish the dignity and integrity of any migrant whose rights and freedoms must be respected and preserved. They are based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which solemnly guarantees equality between individuals and the principle of non-discrimination. This declaration protects all individuals from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. 

The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) follows the same logic as the said declaration. According to it, everyone has the right to freedom of movement, to seek or enjoy asylum from persecution. In its Article 12, the ACHPR notes that “everyone has the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his or her residence within a State.

In the same vein, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 16 December 1966, in its article 2, states that: “The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to respect and to ensure to all individuals within their territory and subject to their jurisdiction the rights recognized in the present Covenant, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status ».

This harmful speech by the Tunisian President is also a disruption of the African peoples, who are united by history and geography and who have established themselves over the years through cultural, ethnic and linguistic intermingling. These remarks contradict and violate the principles of African integration advocated by the AU of which Tunisia is a member.

AfricTivistes strongly condemns this unworthy posture of the Tunisian President, which again shows his low level of culture and knowledge of the world. 

We believe that this negative statement has no place in any country in the world, least of all in an African country and against its sons and daughters, even if they are of different skin colours.

This dramatic event brings back to the table the issue of migration policy in Africa and the pressing need to uphold the fundamental rights of sub-Saharan migrants.

Sub-Saharan migrants live in a very difficult situation in Tunisia where they are often arbitrarily and systematically arrested and threatened with expulsion. They are often victims of verbal and racist attacks in the media and social media while the Tunisian state looks on with complicity, seeking to use the migration issue to conceal its shortcomings in the management of public policies.

Nationalist parties and the media convey such hate speech, spreading dangerously in Tunisian society Their propaganda is moulded in a fabric of lies in order to construct a narrative that encourages hatred of sub-Saharans. Yet, formal statistics estimate the number of sub-Saharan migrants in Tunisia at 22,000 out of a population of 12 million Tunisians, which represents 0.2% in total. Meanwhile, official Italian figures indicate that more than 32,000 migrants, including 18,000 Tunisians, arrived illegally in Italy from Tunisia in 2022.

AfricTivistes is deeply disappointed by African leaders and intellectuals embracing the racist and xenophobic rhetoric that has been promoted by far-right parties in Europe. AfricTivistes also finds these kinds of comments against our sub-Saharan migrant brothers and sisters, who should be protected, to be degrading and revolting.

AfricTivistes thus recalls the importance of human life and the responsibility of political authorities to ensure the safety of prospective immigrants, and also to systematically condemn threats and attacks on their rights and integrity.

We deem that the Tunisian President’s outburst should be condemned by all African States and institutions. Kaïs Saïed must be called to order so that it serves as an example to all those who want to divide Africa through racist and hateful rhetoric. 

We demand a public apology from the Tunisian head of state. We demand that Tunisia respects international laws and conventions on human rights and migrants’ rights. We call on the nationalist Tunisian political parties, media and public officials to put forward humanity and tolerance in their various actions.

We reiterate our call on African leaders to convene as soon as possible for serious talks on the horrific treatment of migrants and the disastrous consequences of migration on the continent.

We call on the African Union (AU), in line with its vision of “an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, led by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force on the international scene”, to directly address the Tunisian President on this issue.

Finally, we ask the AU to remind Kaïs Saïed of some of its objectives, which are clearly stated in the organisation’s Constitution, including to achieve greater unity and solidarity among African countries and peoples; to accelerate the political and socio-economic integration of the continent; to promote and protect human and peoples’ rights in accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other relevant human rights instruments; to promote sustainable economic, social and cultural development, as well as the integration of African economies;…