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Sub-Saharans in Tunisia fear for their lives following Saied's racist comments

A wave of violent racist attacks on sub-Saharan people living in Tunisia has spread across the country since President Kais Saied declared his belief in a conspiracy to change the demographic of Tunisia.

Protesters lift placards during a demonstration in Tunis on Feb. 25, 2023.
Protesters lift placards during a demonstration in Tunis on Feb. 25, 2023, against controversial remarks by the Tunisian president regarding illegal migrants that critics said were openly racist. — FETHI BELAID/AFP via Getty Images

TUNIS — The ramifications of President Kais Saied’s speech to his security advisers last week, in which he expressed his belief that “successive waves of irregular migration” is a plot to transform the demography of Tunisia to that of “only an African country that has no affiliation to Arab and Islamic nations,” has resulted in a wave of violent attacks across the country, including incidents of rape and one confirmed murder in the city of Sfax.

A member of the executive committee of the Association of African Students and Interns in Tunisia (known by its French acronym AESAT) told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “We don’t have full figures, but we get daily reports of violent attacks” against sub-Saharan people in Tunisia.

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