TUNIS, Tunisia — Civil society and student organizations have sounded the alarm on the sharp rise of arbitrary arrests and police violence against people of sub-Saharan origin, especially as food shortages contribute to a socio-economic pressure cooker.

President of AESAT Christian Kwongang described a wave of arrests beginning back in November with the arrest of a female student sentenced to two weeks in prison. Kwongang told Al-Monitor, "We have counted approximately 300 arrests of sub-Saharan people including students around the municipality of Ariana [in Greater Tunis]."

Kwongang said that every day individuals were being stopped and arrested at Ariana metrostation and that mass police arrests at cafes and universities were common. He added, “They have rounded up students from Esprit University, with some as young as 18.”

“People have stopped going to the cafes in Ariana and la Soukra,” he noted. "The arrests are exclusively of sub-Saharans and morale is very low and everyone is hypervigilant. They want to finish their courses and leave. They don’t want to stay in Tunisia.”