Amnesty International has reported that over the past three years, Tunisian authorities have increasingly dismantled protections for refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants, with Black people disproportionately targeted. The shift involves racist policing, human rights violations, and life-threatening conditions, while European Union cooperation on migration control continues without sufficient safeguards, raising the risk of EU complicity.
The organization’s report, ‘Nobody Hears You When You Scream’: Dangerous Shift in Tunisia’s Migration Policy, documents racially motivated arrests, detentions, reckless sea interceptions, and collective expulsions to Algeria and Libya. Refugees and migrants have been subjected to torture, sexual violence, and other ill-treatment. Civil society organizations providing aid have been targeted, and in June 2024, Tunisian authorities removed the UNHCR’s role in processing asylum claims, eliminating the primary legal route to protection in the country.
Amnesty’s research, conducted between February and June 2023, involved interviews with 120 refugees and migrants from nearly 20 countries and included reviews of UN, media, and official Tunisian sources. Testimonies revealed a migration and asylum system designed to punish rather than protect, with Black refugees and migrants especially affected by systemic racial profiling and racially charged political rhetoric. NGOs supporting migrants have faced detentions, severely reducing available protection and aid.
At sea, Tunisian authorities have carried out dangerous interceptions, including violent maneuvers and the denial of individualized protection assessments. Survivors described life-threatening situations where people, including children and babies, were at risk of drowning. Following June 2023, authorities executed at least 70 collective expulsions involving over 11,500 people, often leaving them stranded at borders without food, water, or documentation, exposing them to extreme risks and human rights violations.
Expelled individuals faced significant threats, including transfer to Libya, where widespread abuses occur. Amnesty documented multiple cases of torture, beatings, and sexual violence during expulsions and detentions. Survivors described being handcuffed, beaten, and subjected to humiliating searches, with some experiencing rape and other forms of sexual abuse at the hands of Tunisian security forces.
Amnesty warns that the EU’s cooperation with Tunisia, including funding the coastguard and providing border management support, has prioritized migration control over human rights protection. Agreements, such as the 2023 EU-Tunisia MoU, lacked prior human rights impact assessments, independent monitoring, or clauses to suspend cooperation in the event of violations. Despite widespread reports of abuses, EU officials continue to highlight a reduction in irregular arrivals as a success, risking complicity in human rights violations against refugees and migrants.
Amnesty International urges Tunisian authorities to immediately halt racist incitement, collective expulsions, and attacks on NGOs, while protecting the right to asylum and ensuring safety for refugees and migrants. The organization also calls on the EU to suspend migration and border control assistance until robust human rights safeguards are in place, emphasizing that continued support without protections endangers lives and dignity.
