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Dive deeper into the week’s biggest stories from the Middle East and around the world with The National’s foreign desk. Nuances are often missed in day-to-day headlines. We go Beyond the Headlines by bringing together the voices of experts and those living the news to provide a clearer picture of the region’s shifting political and social landscape.
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Friday Mar 24, 2023
Friday Mar 24, 2023
On February 21 Tunisia’s president Kais Saied declared that “a criminal plan has been set up since the beginning of this century to alter the demographic structure of Tunisia”.
Civil rights groups and activists considered the statement dangerous and warned that it could encourage hate crimes against the sub-Saharan minority, who already face tough conditions.
The Tunisian president's comments coincided with an unprecedented crackdown targeting hundreds of sub-Saharan Africans. Lawyers Without Borders said they estimate around 300 people have been detained and placed in an irregular migrant detention facility in just one wave of arrests. Tunisia's ministry of interior said they were only applying the law and the migrants being detained were in the country illegally.
In this week’s Beyond the Headlines, host Ghaya Ben Mbarek looks at the plight of migrants and black people in an increasingly unwelcoming Tunisia.