Today, Saturday, two planes carrying about 300 migrants took off from Tunisia, heading to Mali and Ivory Coast, as part of the evacuation of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, following hostile statements and attacks they were subjected to after a speech by President Kais Saied, which he described as racist.

The first flight brought nearly 50 Guineans back to their country last Wednesday.

In a speech he made on February 21, 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", and denouncing a "criminal project". to change the demographics" of the country, he said.

A Malian diplomat in Tunisia told Agence France-Presse that "a total of 133 people have been evacuated", including "25 women, 9 children and 25 students", towards Mali.

Two hours later, another plane took off with 145 Ivorian migrants on board, heading to Abidjan, according to Ivory Coast's ambassador to Tunisia, Brahim Si Savani.

Several Tunisian and international human rights organizations condemned Saeed's statements and considered them "racist" and "calling for hatred."

His speech also sparked widespread controversy in Tunisia, at a time when attacks on immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa intensified.

Hundreds of them, some of them legal residents, flocked to their embassies asking to leave Tunisia.

Among the travelers are women, men and children, and a number of them said that the general climate in Tunisia has become a threat to their lives.

"Tunisians don't like us, so we have to leave. On the other hand, our Tunisians (in our country) should leave as well," Bagroso Segou told AFP, before boarding a bus that took him to the airport in the morning.

On the other hand, Abd al-Rahman Doumbia said that he arrived in Tunisia 4 years ago to study, but he interrupted his master's studies to leave, adding that "the situation is critical here. I am returning because I am not safe."


"hate rising"

For his part, Barrell - an immigrant legally residing in Tunisia - confirmed that he is worried about those who stayed, adding, "We respectfully demand President Kais Saied to think about our other brothers, and to treat them well."

"The number of those registered to return has reached 1,100 so far," the Ivory Coast's ambassador to Tunisia stated.

The Ivory Coast community in Tunisia is estimated at about 7,000 people, according to official statistics.

The Guineans, who returned to their country on the first evacuation trip last Wednesday, talked about the "escalation of hatred" after Said's speech, and about the "nightmare" they lived after that on the streets and in the residential neighborhoods they live in in the Tunisian capital and other governorates.

Many of the 21,000 sub-Saharan migrants officially registered in Tunisia - most of them in an irregular situation - lost their jobs and were expelled from their homes overnight.

Dozens were arrested during police operations and some of them were imprisoned. Others gave testimonies to human rights organizations about their physical torture, denouncing the existence of "militias" behind it.

This fraught situation caused scores of migrants to flock to their embassies, particularly to the headquarters of the Ivory Coast and Mali embassies, which soon received hundreds of requests for immediate departure from Tunisia.

On the other hand, immigrants - from countries that do not have embassies in Tunisia - went to the headquarters of the International Organization for Migration, where they set up tents and stationed themselves in front of the headquarters to ensure their protection.

violence

The financial diplomat said that Tunisia announced that it would back down from asking illegal immigrants to pay financial fines for staying illegally in the country, and this fine is estimated at 80 dinars (about 25 euros) per month.

Fines have accumulated for some immigrants, amounting to more than a thousand euros, and they are unable to pay them.

Among the returning migrants are dozens of students from wealthy families or state scholarship holders who attended prestigious private universities in the Tunisian capital.

The Union of Foreign Students condemned the violent incidents that took place last Sunday, which targeted "4 students from Ivory Coast", and the exposure of a "Gabonian student in front of her house" to violence.

The federation asked students from sub-Saharan African countries to "stay at home and go out only in case of extreme need."