Hundreds of Fearful Sub-Saharan Migrants Flee Tunisia

Sub-Saharan African migrants camp outside the headquarters of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Tunis, Tunisia on March 2, 2023. (AFP)

Around 300 nationals of Ivory Coast and Mali were to be flown home from Tunisia on Saturday, fearful of a wave of violence against sub-Saharan migrants since President Kais Saied delivered a controversial tirade against them last month.

In his February 21 speech, Saied ordered officials to take "urgent measures" to tackle irregular migration, claiming without evidence that "a criminal plot" was underway "to change Tunisia's demographic makeup".