Police disperse migrants outside UNHCR headquarters

Installed in a makeshift camp of tents, without toilets or water to wash themselves, these nationals of sub-Saharan Africa, for the majority seeking to be evacuated to third countries, were on edge after the UNHCR suspended the examination of their files, according to witnesses, reports AFP.

They erected barricades in front of the UN building, before a forceful intervention by the police. There were also altercations between some local residents and some sub-Saharan nationals, according to AFP journalists on the spot.

Famoussa Koita, a Malian with the right of asylum, said that some of these migrants had been in Tunisia “for more than two or three years and still have not been called by the UNHCR” which “has a lot of files to to treat”.

On its Facebook page, the UNHCR in Tunisia specified on April 3 that it had stopped “all registration and pre-registration activities from March 31 to April 17 due to a migration of the registration and identity system”. . A “temporary” suspension which concerns “all UNHCR operations around the world”.

Dispersal of migrants by force

The spokesman for the Tunisian Interior Ministry, Faker Bouzghaya, told AFP that the police had intervened “at the request of the UNHCR” and that 80 migrants had been arrested, including 30 placed in police custody.
They “block the passage”, the residents “can no longer leave their homes”, said a resident of the district, Elyes Ben Zakour, according to whom this situation has lasted “for more than 25 days”.

After the dispersal of the migrants, an AFP journalist could see windows of the UNHCR building and broken surveillance cameras as well as municipal teams dismantling the tents and throwing away the migrants’ belongings.

In an open letter, a group of asylum seekers and migrants from fifteen sub-Saharan countries explained that they had “taken refuge” near the UNHCR after having “been chased” from several towns in Tunisia, following a February speech by President Kais Saied slamming illegal immigration.

“Tunisia is not safe and we can no longer stay here,” they wrote, asking to be “evacuated immediately to any other safe country that accepts and respects us as human beings.”

For its part, the UN agency commented on these incidents, through a statement seen by Anadolu, pointing out that some 200 refugees, asylum seekers and migrants began a sit-in in front of its offices three weeks ago. in Tunis, asking for their evacuation to third countries.

Judicial investigation opened by the Tunis prosecutor’s office

UNHCR said the situation became more tense on March 30, when protesters blocked access to the agency’s main entrance and prevented other refugees and asylum-seekers from accessing the services they needed. need inside the premises.
The UN agency has called for an end to all forms of violence, urges de-escalation of tensions so that the situation does not worsen further
The Tunisian Interior Ministry announced on Wednesday the arrest of 80 sub-Saharan migrants following a complaint filed by the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) after the violent acts perpetrated by them on the Berges du Lac in Tunis.

Armed with projectiles, sticks, iron bars and gas cylinders, sub-Saharan migrants tried on Tuesday to intrude at the headquarters of the UN agency.
For its part, the public prosecutor’s office at the Tunis Court of First Instance ordered the opening of a judicial inquiry against sub-Saharan migrants arrested for attempted intrusion into a diplomatic installation, causing damage to it, and for extremely violent aggression against a public official during the performance of his duties, and damage to the property of others.