The nongovernmental organization said that migrants in Sfax, which is 117 miles (188 kilometers) from the Italian Island of Lampedusa, regularly experience arbitrary arrests and violence. Such treatment hasn’t been limited to migrants who enter Tunisia without authorization and has extended to refugees, students, and workers, the group said. It said it had received frequent reports of mass expulsions across the Algerian and Libyan borders. Tunisian officials have said small groups of migrants have been pushed back across the country’s desert borders but disputed reports of systemic abuse and expulsions. Tunisian migration groups estimate there are between 20,000 and 50,000 sub-Saharan migrants in the country.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 09, 2024 13:55 UTC