Hundreds of Tunisians marched through the streets of Jebeniana on Saturday, May 18, 2024, to protest the presence of sub-Saharan migrants stranded as the country intensified its border patrol efforts.
Anti-migrant sentiment is rising in impoverished towns like Jebeniana along the Tunisian coastline, which has become a launchpad for thousands of people hoping to reach Europe by boat.
Chanting slogans opposing the settlement of migrants in Tunisia, protesters demanded government action to support agricultural communities grappling with thousands of migrants living in tarpaulin encampments among their olive groves.
“You brought them here and it’s your responsibility to send them back to their home countries,” stated Moamen Salemi, a 63-year-old retiree from nearby El Amra. “There is a shortage of food throughout the city of El Amra, including sugar, flour, bread, and many other items.”
A final stop for many before attempting to reach a better life in Europe, Jebeniana and El Amra reflect the compounding problems facing Tunisia, a key transit point for migrants from Syria, Bangladesh, and various sub-Saharan African nations.
Law enforcement has increased its presence in these agricultural towns, where roughly 83,000 Tunisians reside alongside a growing number of migrants from around the world.
Protesters argue they have borne the cost of Tunisia’s effort to prevent migrants from reaching the European Union. This comes less than a year after the country brokered an anti-migration pact with the 27-country bloc to better police its sea border and receive over €1 billion ($1.1 billion) in aid.
The Tunisian Coast Guard reported it has thwarted more than 21,000 migration attempts by land or sea this year. Fewer than 8,000 migrants successfully traveled by boat from Tunisia to Italy in the first four months of 2024, a threefold decrease from 2023, according to the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR.
More Tunisians have traveled by makeshift boat to Italy this year than migrants from sub-Saharan African countries.
Anti-migrant protests erupted in the city of Sfax last year, months after Tunisian President Kais Saied called for measures to address violence and crime he attributed to illegal immigration. However, protests are a new development in Jebeniana and El Amra, where a similar demonstration occurred earlier this month.
Encampments have sprung up and expanded on the outskirts of these two towns after local authorities began increasingly clearing them from Sfax last year.
The International Organization for Migration’s Tunisia office estimates that roughly 7,000 migrants are living near Jebeniana and El Amra, though residents believe the number could be much higher.
