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Post: In Tunisia, the fire of anti-African rhetoric is spreading to the country’s black children.

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Black Tunisians continue to campaign against illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa and feel uneasy in their country after strong statements by President Kais Syed.

Nibra Mejna, 26, works as a waitress in the capital and is one of the many Tunisians who now face mockery and speeches such as: “What are you doing here? Go home, go.”

Since February 21, when Qais Said denounced the arrival of “hordes” of illegal immigrants, spoke of Tunisia’s “change in demographic composition”, violations have been reported against immigrants from sub-Saharan countries, dozens of whom have sought asylum. to their embassies to return to their countries.

“After the speech, I noticed that black people in Tunisia were also afraid,” Saadia Mosbach, director of the anti-racism association Manamat, told AFP, noting that “there were five or six attacks against black Tunisians”.

The 63-year-old former flight attendant was one of the human rights activists who spearheaded the 2018 campaign that pushed parliament to pass the country’s groundbreaking anti-apartheid law.

Saadia says she was shocked by hateful online attacks urging her to “go back to her country” and that she “showed full solidarity” with illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan countries who find themselves jobless and homeless at night. The government decided to tighten censorship on them. According to official data, their number exceeded 21,000.

“built-in racism”

Saadia delivers food and raw materials daily to migrants camped outside the headquarters of the International Organization for Migration in the capital Tunis.

The activist says that “somewhat hidden” racism in Tunisia “suddenly appeared when he always said that the Tunisian state was neither racist nor discriminatory”.

He added that Said’s comments were a “green light from the political power of the racists” in his judgment and expressed surprise at the existence of “educated and enlightened elite people” among the anti-immigrants.

Saadia highlighted that it is not the right time to raise the issue of the black minority Tunisia at the debate table and believes that he is “putting fuel on the fire”.

The number of black Tunisians is estimated at between 10 and 15% of the population and the majority live in southern Tunisia and “the majority live in vulnerable areas and belong to the poorest classes”, according to the researcher. Maha Abdel Hamid of the Euromisco Institute, in a study published in 2018.

“Black people in Tunisia are victims of the president’s rhetoric, which was not directed against black people, but against illegal immigrants,” anthropologist Stephanie Bussell told AFP.

He added that they already experience “a profound racism, a daily racism, as well as the difficulty of reaching high positions”.

Bouzil believes that after the “bombshell” dropped by the president in the context of the economic and social tensions facing the country, many black Tunisians “don’t want to be stuck with the (immigration) issue… while they are fighting. ” to be considered completely Tunisian” .

“Africa in me”

“We have to seriously consider the integration of black Tunisians… This is an issue that has been dragging on for years without any real initiative,” former soccer player and black star Radi Jaaid told AFP.

Al-Jaidi previously posted a tweet rejecting the campaign against immigrants from sub-Saharan African countries, stating: “I am African, not because I was born in Africa, but because Africa was born in me. .”

The former captain of the Tunisian national football team told AFP that the aim of his message was to “demand respect for the rights of immigrants”, and said the attacks had “tarnished the image of Tunisia”, whose flag “is proud to fly 105 ″ . times” during international competitions.

Jaide hopes that many other Tunisian celebrities and stars who “enjoy the public’s trust” will do the same, noting that other than tennis star Anas Jaber, reactions have been limited.

Despite the ridicule he experienced in his neighborhood as a child, he wants to continue promoting his country’s image as a country of “freedom, hospitality and diversity of origins”.

Source: EuroNews

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