NAIROBI -

Reactions to Tunisian President Kais Saied's statements about a conspiracy to settle sub-Saharan African migrants with the aim of changing the demographic composition of Tunisia are still overshadowed. African newspapers have continued their attacks over the past few days on Saied's statements, despite the Tunisian retraction.

Last Wednesday, during a meeting with the President of Guinea-Bissau, Omar Sissoko Empalo, the Tunisian president denied accusations of a racist tendency in his stance towards immigrants from sub-Saharan African countries, after the controversy aroused by his statements against irregular immigrants in his country, saying that sub-Saharan Africans " Our brothers,” he added, “I am African and I am proud.”

Despite Saeed's retreat, African newspapers continue their attacks. "Africa News" newspaper headlined in its French version, "Tunisia: Hell for Sub-Saharan Migrants," considering that the statements of the President of Tunisia made migrants live in distress after they were subjected to assaults and were expelled from their homes. to sweep the sky.

Gabonese newspaper cartoon against the statements of the Tunisian president (Gabonian press)

Great replacement

As for the electronic newspaper specialized in African affairs, Agence Ecofin, under the title “Sub-Saharan immigrants in Tunisia: the other side of President Kais Saied’s xenophobic speech,” it considered that Kais Saied adopts the theory of “the great replacement: which was founded by the French far-right Renault camo".

For its part, the Ivorian newspaper "Koaci" addressed the call to boycott Tunisian products on social media in Guinea, under the hashtag "Boycott Tunisia," noting that the call is continuous and widespread in a number of neighboring countries, despite the Tunisian president's retraction of his statements.

As for the financial newspaper, Maliweb, it went further, and considered that the manifestations of racism against black Africans in Tunisia are no exception, as these practices suffer from Malians and the rest of Africans in most Arab countries in the north of the continent, "especially Algeria, Libya and Egypt." Calling on the financial authorities to be more firm diplomacy with these countries.


East of the continent is not west

As for the English-speaking east of the continent, where Saeed's statements and what followed did not find a similar resonance, due to the lack of immigrants from those countries towards Tunisia, the Kenyan newspaper "Nation" dealt with the event from an economic point of view.

The newspaper dealt with the World Bank's postponement of its dealings with Tunisia due to the president's statements, saying that this decision would place the International Monetary Fund in a critical position in the face of Tunisia's efforts to obtain a loan.

On the other hand, other African newspapers positively received the Tunisian president's denial that his statements were racist, under the headline "Tunisia Wants to Improve the Conditions of Foreigners". to protect them and settle their situation.

As for the Cameroonian newspaper "Actu Cameroon" (Actu Afrique), it dealt positively with Saeed's statements during his meeting with the President of Guinea-Bissau and the current head of the Economic Community of West African States, in which he distanced himself from any racism, stressing that he is proud of his African affiliation.

On February 21, Saeed denounced the influx of "hordes of irregular migrants" from sub-Saharan Africa, stressing that this phenomenon leads to "violence and crimes," referring at the time to "a criminal arrangement that has been prepared since the beginning of this century to change the demographic composition of Tunisia."

Despite attempts to remedy the crisis in Africa, there are those who consider that Said's retreat and his taking of new measures in favor of immigrants make the crisis a fleeting summer cloud, and among those who believe that the ax fell on the head and that the consequences of those statements cannot be erased quickly.

There are about 21,000 migrants from sub-Saharan African countries officially registered in Tunisia, most of them in an irregular situation, or less than 0.2% of the country's total population of 12 million.