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Tunisia activists claim authorities target sub-Saharan students

Sub-Saharan students in Tunisia decry racially motivated arrests as police impunity increases.
Sub-Saharan migrant women learn how to use a computer at a center run by the Organization for the Support of Migrants, Medenine, Tunisia, June 15, 2021.

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]."

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