Bessem Ben Dhaou –
SFAX (Tunisia). Tunisia has categorically rejected the accusations of “racism” against African immigrants made in some international media. This is what is reported in a note from the presidency of the Republic, which expresses “astonishment at this campaign whose sources are known and linked to alleged racism in Tunisia”.
In recent days some students and immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa had told the media of discrimination, acts of violence and arrests: “We are waiting for the Tunisian authorities to respond to our appeals and in the meantime we invite all students originating from sub-Saharan African countries to attention and to avoid leaving the house: there is a climate of fear, there have been arrests of university residents who are regular residents and the cases of aggression by ordinary citizens are multiplying”, he told the Dire Christian Kwongang, president of the Association of African Students and Trainees in Tunisia.
“The presidency – continues the note issued today from the Carthage palace – rejects this accusation against the Tunisian state, which is one of the founders of the Organization of African Unity, later transformed into the African Union, which has supported all national liberation movements in the world, not least the national ones of liberation in Africa. Tunisia is an African country par excellence, and this is an honor for us, and Africans are our brothers. Referring to the “crime of trafficking in human beings from which African brothers and sisters suffer so far”, the press release reports that “the Tunisian state has never accepted and will never accept that Africans are victims of this shameful phenomenon, neither in Tunisia nor in abroad”.
The Presidency of the Republic then announced a series of measures including “the provision of annual residence cards for students from African countries with the aim of facilitating their stay in Tunisia and allowing them to periodically renew their documents within the appropriate deadlines”. It also decided to “extend the residence permit from three months to six months, and facilitate voluntary departures for those who wish to do so in a coordinated framework with the embassies and diplomatic representations of African countries in Tunisia”.