Tunisian Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar confirmed on Monday that his country is sending "reassurance" messages, but it excludes an apology.

Following criticism that President Kais Saied's speech on immigrants from sub-Saharan African countries was considered "racist".

"For legal immigrants, there is no problem; on the contrary, we want more," the minister added - in an interview with Agence France-Presse.

As for "illegal immigrants, they are invited to return to their homes, but with respect for their rights and dignity."

Following Said's strongly worded speech, a number of NGOs and witnesses reported an escalation of attacks against African migrants in Tunisia.

Last Tuesday, the Tunisian president stressed the need to take "urgent measures" to stop the flow of irregular migrants from sub-Saharan Africa to his country, stressing that this phenomenon leads to "violence and crimes."

Saied's remarks came while he chaired a meeting of the National Security Council at the Carthage Palace last Tuesday, "dedicated to urgent measures that must be taken to address the phenomenon of the influx of large numbers of irregular migrants from sub-Saharan Africa to Tunisia," according to a statement by the Tunisian presidency.

Many non-governmental organizations condemned the speech, describing it as "racist and inciting hatred." The African Union also condemned it and considered the president's statements "shocking," and called on member states to "refrain from any racist hate speech."


"biased interpretation"

"It is a tendentious interpretation of the statements of the higher Tunisian authorities on this matter. A few days have passed since this happened and we must now remain calm and reassuring messages have been sent through official and other channels," the foreign minister said.

And he continued in the context of his speech, "No, the issue of apology is not raised, we did not harm anyone."

"We should not confuse individual behavior with what the authorities do. The authorities take all measures to protect all migrants in Tunisia, whether they are legal or illegal," Ammar said.

The minister - appointed to his post 3 weeks ago - justified Saeed's speech, saying that "the Tunisian authorities have the right to warn when illegal immigrant flows increase, with all the consequences that may ensue."

Said's statements about the existence of a "criminal arrangement prepared since the beginning of this century to change the demographic composition of Tunisia" in order to "settle irregular immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa" ​​in the country;

Comparisons with what is known as the conspiracy theory (the Great Substitution) advocated in France by the far-right Eric Zemour.

between north and south

Ammar commented on this, saying, "It is just one element (of the discourse), so why did commentators focus on this element to make it central? Even if this study found, where is the problem in that, it is not the Tunisian authorities that produced it?"

He added, "There were testimonies in video clips, I don't want to mention them because I don't want to participate in the development of this debate, but there were testimonies given by sub-Saharan migrants who said: Here we are at home and so on, I don't even want to talk about that." ".

The minister continued, "We are in a difficult situation between the north and the south.. When we say that there is a problem, they accuse us of racism, do you see how unfair that is?"

He also denied accusations by non-governmental organizations and the opposition that Saeed's discourse on immigrants aims to distract public opinion from the deteriorating living conditions and the tense political situation with a series of arrests in political circles.

"Of course not," Ammar said. "This is their interpretation, not the reality."

According to official figures reported by the "Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights", Tunisia - with a population of about 12 million - is inhabited by more than 21,000 sub-Saharan Africans, most of whom are in an illegal situation.

Most of the migrants from sub-Saharan countries arrive in Tunisia - some of whose coasts are less than 150 km from the Italian island of Lampedusa - and then try to migrate irregularly to Europe by sea.

Some NGOs believe that Tunisia - whose coast guard regularly intercepts migrant boats bound for Europe - is a major party in monitoring migration routes in the Mediterranean.