By RFIPalled on 11-08-2019Modified on 11-08-2019 at 00:15

A week ago, the UN had expressed concern about the fate of 36 Ivorian migrants who said in a video posted by one of them have been deposited in the Tunisian desert. The authorities in Abidjan reacted strongly to their Tunisian counterparts.

If he waited this weekend to react publicly on the fate of its nationals, the Ivorian government said in a statement that he was made aware of the situation a week ago, that is to say the same day their alleged expulsion to the desert . Presumed because the situation is still confused.

According to the Ivorian authorities, it was their embassy in Tunisia that informed them of the arrest of 46 of their citizens in the city of Sfax. But the statement does not officially confirm that 36 of them have been sent back to the Libyan border. He chooses, for this, to rely on the testimony of the president of the Ivorians of Sfax.

Tunisian coast, the authorities do not bring more lighting. The Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defense reveal that operations led to the arrest of dozens of foreigners, including Ivorians, while attempting a smuggling. But both firms insist that they are not those appearing in the controversial video.

"Vivid protests"

At the beginning of the week, the association of Ivorians based in Tunis, Assivat, declared that his 36 compatriots were safe and sound. This Saturday, a source near the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Abidjan said they had been rescued, without giving details on their exact location and current situation.

For now, the government has summoned the charge d'affaires of the embassy of Tunisia in Côte d'Ivoire, where he expressed his " strong protests " while wondering, he said, the recurring treatment reserved to its nationals, despite the excellent relations of friendship between the two countries.

The Ivorian state had already denounced the fate reserved to its citizens after the death of Falikou Coulibaly , President of the Association of Ivorians of Tunisia, last December. A mission to Tunisia is planned by the Director General of Ivorians from outside.

    On the same subject

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