Xenophobia grows amidst raids and repeated attacks on sub-Saharan Africans in Tunisia

The image on the left shows graffiti calling for violence against Black people, written in French. The image on the right shows a family from sub-Saharan Africa who were arrested and taken to a police station in a suburb of Tunis. Our Observer, who is friends with the victims, told us they were arrested while their infant children were left at home alone. © Observers

Tunisian law enforcement has launched a wave of repression against the country’s sub-Saharan African population, carrying out random identity checks and sometimes violently arresting them, leaving their children abandoned and offering no access to any kind of legal support. Xenophobic and racist sentiments have also been circulating widely on Tunisian social media, a toxic climate that recent statements by the Tunisian president only exacerbated.

Tunisian police in a number of cities carried out a campaign against the migrant community, arresting and detaining around 300 people from sub-Saharan Africa, including women and children, between February 14 and 16.