Hundreds of migrants have been driven into the desert from the Tunisian port of Sfax. Earlier there were skirmishes with residents. Sfax is considered one of the starting ports for the crossing to Europe.
Tensions had risen since the beginning of the week. Dozens of migrants fled or were forcibly displaced. Hundreds of people have now been transported in buses to desert areas in southern Tunisia, some near the border with Libya and others near the border with Algeria, according to NGOs. Many of the people came from these two countries.
“We have nothing to eat or drink. We are in the desert,” 27-year-old Issa Kone told AFP, saying he was taken on a bus with dozens of other people from Sfax near the Algerian border. “National Guard agents arrested us in Sfax after we broke into our home.” The expulsion to the desert was ordered after the death of a 41-year-old Tunisian man during clashes on Monday when he was stabbed in the port city, sparking outrage.
More racially motivated attacks
Residents said they were tired of the presence of migrants in the city. The second largest city in the country is located about 130 kilometers from the Italian island of Lampedusa and is one of the starting ports for the crossing to Europe. Racist attacks escalated in Tunisia after President Kais Saied accused migrants of a “criminal conspiracy” in February.
Source: Krone

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