The organization called on its Member States on Saturday to “refrain from any hate speech of a racist nature, likely to harm people”, after the remarks made by the Tunisian president on Tuesday.
MO12345LEMONDE WITH AFP
His remarks do not pass in Tunise and abroad. Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed sparked a vast controversy on Tuesday by taking it directly to the sub -Saharan migrants present in his country, who, according to him, would threaten him. In response, the African Union (AU) rejected these remarks and called its Member States to “refrain from any hate speech with a racist nature, likely to harm people”, Friday, February 24.
President Saïed had advocated “urgent measures” against illegal immigration of nationals of sub -Saharan Africa on Tuesday, affirming that their presence in Tunisia was a source of “violence, crimes and unacceptable acts”. During a meeting, he also made very harsh remarks on the arrival of “hordes of illegal migrants” and insisted on “the need to end this immigration quickly. Declarations immediately denounced by several local NGOs.
In a press release signed by his hand, the chairman of the AU commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, thus argued on Friday “firmly condemns the shocking statements made by the Tunisian authorities against African compatriots, who go against the letter and the spirit of our organization and our founding principles “. “Based accusations”, the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted on Saturday.
“Treat all migrants with dignity, wherever they come”
According to the African Union, this regrettable episode “reminds all countries, in particular to the member states of the African Union, that they must honor the obligations which fall to them under international law (…), to Knowing how to treat all migrants with dignity, wherever they come from, abstain from any hateful discourse of a racist nature, likely to harm people, and give priority to their security and their fundamental rights “.
Moussa Faki Mahamat also reiterates in this press release “the commitment of the [AU] commission to support the Tunisian authorities with a view to solving migration problems in order to make the migration safe, dignified and regular” .
In another press release also released on Friday, the Mali Embassy in Tunisia said, for its part, “with the greatest concern the situation of the Malians” in the country. Evoking “very worrying moments”, she invites her nationals “to calm and vigilance” and recommends, to “those who wish (to) register for a voluntary return”.
The head of Tunisian diplomacy Nabil Ammar said on Saturday by press release that he met the day before the ambassadors of African countries who precisely expressed “their concern to respect Tunisian laws relating to immigration”, and have assured them “The authorities’ commitment to protect foreign residents of all nationalities”.
But the speech of Mr. Saïed, which concentrates all the powers after having suspended in July 2021 the Parliament and dismissed the government, occurred while the country is going through a serious economic crisis marked by recurrent shortages of basic products, as well as against the background of political tensions.
“MO12345lemonde Africa” every Saturday, find a weekly week and debates, by writing “world Africa” S ‘ Inscription section>
In recent weeks, racist speech and hatred speeches have thus gained a new scale, encouraged by the rise of the Tunisian nationalist party, training appeared recently on the Internet and which demands the expulsion of migrants sub -Saharians via an online petition.
According to official figures cited by the Tunisian forum for economic and social rights (FTDES), Tunisia, a country of some 12 million inhabitants, has more than 21,000 nationals from sub -Saharan African countries, mostly in an irregular situation. They are more according to local NGOs, between 30,000 and 50,000. A population that provides “an inexpensive and consuming workforce that everyone benefits, and even often abuses. Their presence and their irregular work on the territory have so far been known and tolerated by the Tunisian state, although it has always been illegal, “said Kenza Ben Azouz, specialist in racism in Tunisia, in an article in the world.