UN committee calls on Tunisia to stop 'racist hate speech' against migrants

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on Tuesday called on the Tunisian authorities to put an end to "racist hate speech", especially against people from sub-Saharan Africa.

The committee expressed "disturbance" at statements by Tunisian President Kais Saied in late February that the influx of irregular migrants from sub-Saharan Africa was a "source of violence and crime" and was part of a "criminal arrangement" aimed at "changing Tunisia's demographic composition."

The Tunisian president's remarks were seen by the UN committee, which monitors compliance by the parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, as contrary to the agreement.

The committee said it was deeply concerned about "the escalation of racist or xenophobic hate speech in Tunisia against sub-Saharan migrants on social media and some other media, including racist hate speech by individuals and political parties."

It also noted that the wave of hate speech has led to acts of violence against these migrants, including physical attacks and expulsions from their homes and jobs.

The UN committee also noted reports of numerous arbitrary arrests of these migrants, including women, children and students, carried out by security forces as part of a campaign called "Strengthening security measures and reducing the phenomenon of illegal residence in the country" without any procedural guarantees.

It called on the President of Tunisia to immediately cease mass arrests and detentions of migrants, release those arbitrarily detained, and allow those who choose to seek asylum to do so.

In a speech on 21 February, Saied stressed that "urgent measures" must be taken to stem the flow of irregular migrants from sub-Saharan Africa into his country.

On March 8, Saied denied any racism in his stance on sub-Saharan African migrants, stressing that the remarks "cannot be explained by interpretations echoed by some malicious tongues" that described his remarks as racist.

In light of this, the World Bank decided to suspend the partnership framework with Tunisia "until further notice."