Attacks against Sub Saharan Migrants

have a dramatic increase following Tunisia’s President Speech

Tunisia has seen a surge in brutal racist attacks against Black migrants from sub-Saharan countries, and counter-protests, after President Kais Saïed made a speech at a National Security Council meeting in which he claimed that these migrants are part of a secret campaign to make Tunisia a “purely African” country in a deliberate attempt to separate it from its Arab and Muslim identity.

This all comes as President Saïed – who began to centralise all power after he dissolved parliament on the 25th of July 2021 – has in recent weeks been intensifying efforts to silence opposition figures, from politicians to judges and lawyers, with arrests and accusations of conspiracy against state security

Tunis, Tunisia 2023.


Bhar Lazreg is a marginalized neighborhood in Tunis. Housing is more affordable here and many Subsaharan migrants without papers live here. Since President Saïed’s speech claiming that black African migrants were coming in to change the demographic makeup of Tunisia, violence against Subsaharan migrants has increased dramatically. - Paula González Gavilanes
Bhar Lazreg is a marginalized neighborhood in Tunis. Housing is more affordable here and many Subsaharan migrants without papers live here. Since President Saïed’s speech claiming that black African migrants were coming in to change the demographic makeup of Tunisia, violence against Subsaharan migrants has increased dramatically.
Abdoulaye (right) shares a one-bedroom apartment with two friends from his neighborhood back home in Guinea. He has been assaulted physically simply for being a Subsaharan African in the wrong place at the wrong time. “Since I came to Tunisia I have been attacked by youth several times here in Bhar Lazreg,” he said. - Paula González Gavilanes
Abdoulaye (right) shares a one-bedroom apartment with two friends from his neighborhood back home in Guinea. He has been assaulted physically simply for being a Subsaharan African in the wrong place at the wrong time. “Since I came to Tunisia I have been attacked by youth several times here in Bhar Lazreg,” he said.
Outside the headquarters of the IOM, Subsaharan migrants that have been evicted are camping out. Three women from Sierra Leone sit together. Fanta H. Bangora, carries her 8-month-old baby. The other two are 7 and 8 months pregnant, one of them with a 1 year old. They sleep on cardboard, lack food, warm clothing and sanitary facilities. - Paula González Gavilanes
Outside the headquarters of the IOM, Subsaharan migrants that have been evicted are camping out. Three women from Sierra Leone sit together. Fanta H. Bangora, carries her 8-month-old baby. The other two are 7 and 8 months pregnant, one of them with a 1 year old. They sleep on cardboard, lack food, warm clothing and sanitary facilities.
In the presence of journalists, some of the migrants improvised signs to get their message across the media. The people in the encampment have found themselves homeless from one day to the next. Many of them were evicted by landlords, and others violently chased from their homes by groups of neighbors. - Paula González Gavilanes
In the presence of journalists, some of the migrants improvised signs to get their message across the media. The people in the encampment have found themselves homeless from one day to the next. Many of them were evicted by landlords, and others violently chased from their homes by groups of neighbors.
Sufian Bangoa is camping outside the IOM headquarters in Tunis. He explains that his wife was detained by the police the week before. He hasn’t heard from her since, and has not succeeded in getting any information about her situation or that of other detainees. - Paula González Gavilanes
Sufian Bangoa is camping outside the IOM headquarters in Tunis. He explains that his wife was detained by the police the week before. He hasn’t heard from her since, and has not succeeded in getting any information about her situation or that of other detainees.
On the 25th of February, nearly a thousand Tunisians gathered near downtown Tunis in an event titled 'Crush Fascism: Tunisia is an African Land', protesting against the rise of autocracy and the racist claims made by President Kais Saïed. - Paula González Gavilanes
On the 25th of February, nearly a thousand Tunisians gathered near downtown Tunis in an event titled 'Crush Fascism: Tunisia is an African Land', protesting against the rise of autocracy and the racist claims made by President Kais Saïed.
“This march is a scream of anger about what’s going on in the country. Against the behavior of Tunisians towards Subsaharan Africans: expelling them from their houses, attacking them physically, stealing their money,” said Saaida Mosbah during the protest. She is the President of Mnemty, a prominent Tunisian anti-racist organization. - Paula González Gavilanes
“This march is a scream of anger about what’s going on in the country. Against the behavior of Tunisians towards Subsaharan Africans: expelling them from their houses, attacking them physically, stealing their money,” said Saaida Mosbah during the protest. She is the President of Mnemty, a prominent Tunisian anti-racist organization.
Fatma Ltifi, president of Damj – The Tunisian Association for Justice and Equality, said, “We have to put a hard stop to these attacks on migrants. The action we are taking today is for history—that Tunisians have refused the President’s discourse, that there are Tunisians working to stop this assault, who refuse for us to slide backwards.” - Paula González Gavilanes
Fatma Ltifi, president of Damj – The Tunisian Association for Justice and Equality, said, “We have to put a hard stop to these attacks on migrants. The action we are taking today is for history—that Tunisians have refused the President’s discourse, that there are Tunisians working to stop this assault, who refuse for us to slide backwards.”
In the protest, a flag with the Antifa symbol waves through the crowd. In Arabic, it reads “Wrong generation”, a slogan which in English translates to something close to ‘‘You’ve messed with the wrong generation.” - Paula González Gavilanes
In the protest, a flag with the Antifa symbol waves through the crowd.
In Arabic, it reads “Wrong generation”, a slogan which in English translates to something close to ‘‘You’ve messed with the wrong generation.”
Bhar Lazreg is a marginalized neighborhood in Tunis. Housing is more affordable here and many Subsaharan migrants without papers live here. Since President Saïed’s speech claiming that black African migrants were coming in to change the demographic makeup of Tunisia, violence against Subsaharan migrants has increased dramatically. - Paula González Gavilanes
Abdoulaye (right) shares a one-bedroom apartment with two friends from his neighborhood back home in Guinea. He has been assaulted physically simply for being a Subsaharan African in the wrong place at the wrong time. “Since I came to Tunisia I have been attacked by youth several times here in Bhar Lazreg,” he said. - Paula González Gavilanes
Outside the headquarters of the IOM, Subsaharan migrants that have been evicted are camping out. Three women from Sierra Leone sit together. Fanta H. Bangora, carries her 8-month-old baby. The other two are 7 and 8 months pregnant, one of them with a 1 year old. They sleep on cardboard, lack food, warm clothing and sanitary facilities. - Paula González Gavilanes
In the presence of journalists, some of the migrants improvised signs to get their message across the media. The people in the encampment have found themselves homeless from one day to the next. Many of them were evicted by landlords, and others violently chased from their homes by groups of neighbors. - Paula González Gavilanes
Sufian Bangoa is camping outside the IOM headquarters in Tunis. He explains that his wife was detained by the police the week before. He hasn’t heard from her since, and has not succeeded in getting any information about her situation or that of other detainees. - Paula González Gavilanes
On the 25th of February, nearly a thousand Tunisians gathered near downtown Tunis in an event titled 'Crush Fascism: Tunisia is an African Land', protesting against the rise of autocracy and the racist claims made by President Kais Saïed. - Paula González Gavilanes
“This march is a scream of anger about what’s going on in the country. Against the behavior of Tunisians towards Subsaharan Africans: expelling them from their houses, attacking them physically, stealing their money,” said Saaida Mosbah during the protest. She is the President of Mnemty, a prominent Tunisian anti-racist organization. - Paula González Gavilanes
Fatma Ltifi, president of Damj – The Tunisian Association for Justice and Equality, said, “We have to put a hard stop to these attacks on migrants. The action we are taking today is for history—that Tunisians have refused the President’s discourse, that there are Tunisians working to stop this assault, who refuse for us to slide backwards.” - Paula González Gavilanes
In the protest, a flag with the Antifa symbol waves through the crowd. In Arabic, it reads “Wrong generation”, a slogan which in English translates to something close to ‘‘You’ve messed with the wrong generation.” - Paula González Gavilanes
Published in VICE News. CLICK HERE to read the article. - Paula González Gavilanes
Published in VICE News. CLICK HERE to read the article.