Tunisia

19 September 2023

Tunisian security forces in Sfax forcibly removed about 500 sub-Saharan migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers from Bab Al-Jebli square, where they had been staying since the eviction from their homes in July 2023. Over 200 people were also detained while preparing to depart for Europe. Some people have been moved to remote areas where there is a lack of food, water, and shelter. (The New Arab 18/09/2023, Africa News 18/09/2023)

17 August 2023

Since the second week of July 2023, an estimated 150 migrants and asylum seekers have crossed daily from Tunisia to Al Assah, a remote and desert area inside the Libyan borders. They suffer from the impact of the heatwaves affecting the area and need food, water, shelter, and healthcare services. (Al Jazeera 09/08/2023, IFRC 31/07/2023)

24 July 2023

Migrants staying in makeshift camps in Tunisia are struggling with high temperatures, which have reached 50° C, when the average for July is usually just 33° C. There is a lack of water and shelter. Food supplies that are not stored properly are getting spoiled. There are also increasing risks of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. (Al Jazeera 24/07/2023, The New Arab 26/07/2023)

10 July 2023

Increasing racial tensions in Tunisia have resulted in an estimated 1,200 migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers being expelled to Ben Guerdane, a militarised Tunisia-Libya border area. The group was removed from Sfax after the killing of a Tunisian man allegedly linked to attacks against black Africans transiting the area. Racially motivated attacks against the transitory population have increased throughout 2023. Collective punishment has left the current group in a remote border area, stranded under hot temperatures without food or water and facing further violence. They are not allowed to return to Tunisia, and Libyan border guards are preventing onward movement. Among the people expelled, there are 29 children and three pregnant women. The nationalities of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers are Cameroonian, Chadian, Guinean, Ivorian, Malian, Senegalese, and Sudanese. Water, food, shelter, and access to medical care are urgently needed. (HRW 06/07/2023, Al Jazeera 10/07/2023, Reuters 07/07/2023)