The images of the night of Monday July 3 to Tuesday July 4 in Sfax, widely disseminated on social networks, testify to a rare violence between Tunisians and Sub-Saharans. Stone throwing, individuals masked with iron bars, tear gas canisters, burned houses: a new level of violence has been crossed in the city of central Tunisia, crossed since Sunday by significant tensions.
At the origin of this latest surge of hatred, the aggression of a Tunisian, stabbed by African migrants, in the northern suburbs of the city. Information quickly spread via a video posted on Facebook by MP Tarek Mahdi around 10 p.m.: we see a man lying on the ground unconscious, bathed in blood, surrounded by residents of the neighborhood who are gradually gathering around of the victim. The aggressors are “Africans”, then affirms Tarek Mahdi, who accuses them of “being everywhere” and calls for a reaction from the Sfaxian population. “People need to get moving,” he urged his audience.
The video garners several thousand likes, is shared massively, often accompanied by calls for revenge. A few hours later, the announcement of the death of the assaulted young man as a result of his injuries warms the spirits even more. In the streets, violence erupts in many parts of Sfax: Tunisians attack sub-Saharan Africans and some sources report that groups on motorcycles begin a “hunt for blacks”. According to the Sfax prosecutor’s office quoted by AFP, “three migrants suspected of involvement in this murder and who would be of Cameroonian nationality, according to preliminary information, have been arrested”.
Departure platform to Europe
Sfax, port city and major economic center of the country, has long welcomed workers and students from the rest of the continent who have come to seek a future there. Since the beginning of the year, it has turned into a major departure platform for candidates for exile to Europe. In 2023, more than 30,000 people have already reached the Italian island of Lampedusa from its coasts.
A situation that has increased racism in the city. Sunday, May 28, a new demonstration took place in front of the seat of the governorate to demand action from the authorities to stem the migratory phenomenon and expel sub-Saharans from the country. A context that already suggested the worst, said the spokesperson for the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights, Romdhane Ben Amor. “Some groups take advantage of the absence of the state to try to drive migrants out of their homes using force and all that results in violence”, he denounced, describing the situation as “dramatic”. .
“It’s like reliving the dark days of late February 2023 but worse,” reacted Franck Yotedje, director of the association Afrique Intelligence which works for the rights of migrants and social cohesion, in reference to the waves of violence suffered by migrants after the words of Kaïs Saïed. The Tunisian president then attributed to the “hordes of illegal migrants” an alleged plot “to change the composition of the demographic landscape in Tunisia”. These words had triggered several days of acts of defiance – manhunts, evictions from housing – against the 21,000 Sub-Saharans, most of whom are in an irregular situation in the country.