Tunisia intensifies its efforts to organize the voluntary return of sub -Saharan migrants in an irregular situation, especially in the Sfax region.
This is said of the official spokesperson for the National Guard, General Houssem Eddine Jebabli, on the sidelines of an operation of dismantling migrant camps in the locality of El Amra (governorate of Sfax). In coordination with the International Organization for Migration (OIM), the Tunisian authorities are trying to multiply air rotations, with already two weekly flights organized for countries of origin.
These returns are part of a context of increased migration tension in the south of the country, where thousands of migrants live in makeshift camps, without access to basic services.
Tunisia is trying to combine firmness and humanitarian approach: some migrants have returned from their own freeze, others were expelled after committing acts contrary to public order, according to official declarations. In parallel, repatriations also take place via commercial flights.
The operation carried out Thursday, May 30 in El Amra concerns around 3,500 people installed in informal camps at the level of the mileage point 21. Supervised by the security forces, the intervention was accompanied by the health teams, the Tunisian Red Cross, the Scouts and the local authorities.
The objective: to dismantle the anarchic camps, to disinfect places, to collect and destroy waste, with the apparent respect of a well -coordinated multisectoral device.