With financial support from the European Union, Tunisia is systematically undertaking anti-migrant and racially motivated operations, including “desert dumps” and unlawful arbitrary expulsions of migrants and refugees to remote areas near Libya and Algeria, according to recent reports. Violence Against Migrants and Arrests of Human Rights Defenders The growing number of reports revealing abuses suffered […]
Tunisia
Trapped Between Borders: Tunisia’s Alarming Treatment of Sub-Saharan Migrants
Tunisia has come under renewed criticism from rights groups after authorities rounded up sub-Saharan migrants and asylum seekers and forcefully relocated them to a buffer zone between the Tunisian and Libyan border. Videos shared online show men, women, and children–some with injuries–stranded close to the sea, reportedly without any food or water. Surging Discrimination According […]
ITALY: Human Rights Court Rules Against “Hotspot” Detention
In an important ruling, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has found that Italy breached Articles 3, 4, and 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in its treatment of four Tunisian claimants who were detained and deported in October 2017. In October 2017, four Tunisians attempted to travel to Italy from […]
Tunisia Immigration Detention Data Profile (2020)
Tunisia Detention Data (2020) The latest detention-related data from Tunisia, including immigration and detention-related statistics, domestic laws and policies, international law, and institutional indicators. View the Tunisia Detention Data Profile Related Reading: Tunisia: Country Page Joint Submission to the Committee on the Rights of the Child: Tunisia Report: Immigration Detention in Tunisia – Shrouded in […]
Joint Submission to the Committee on the Rights of the Child: Tunisia
Global Detention Project and Forum Tunsien pour les Droits Économiques et Sociaux Joint Submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (85th Session, 7-25 September 2020) Tunisia: Issues related to immigration detention The Global Detention Project (GDP) and the Forum Tunsien pour les Droits Économiques et Sociaux (FTDES) welcome the opportunity to […]
Tunisia: Covid-19 and Detention
On 16 July, in what observers in Tunisia have called an “unprecedented decision,” the Tunisian administrative court suspended the detention of 22 migrants detained arbitrarily at the El Ouardia detention centre. The decision comes after reports of hunger strikes at El Ouardia and calls from civil society organisations for authorities to clarify the legal basis […]
Tunisia: Covid-19 and Detention
Responding to the Global Detention Project Covid-19 survey, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Tunis office reported that on 7 April 2020, the government held an inter-ministerial meeting, which included the Interior Ministry, to discuss measures to be taken with respect to migrants in response to the pandemic. These included the suspension of visa termination […]
Tunisia: Covid-19 and Detention
Following reports of protests and hunger strikes in El Ouardia Detention Centre by detainees demanding their release (see 18 April update), Tunisian civil society organisations have called on authorities to clarify the legal basis for detainees’ continued detention. According to the NGOs, migrants and asylum seekers continue to be arrested and detained in Tunisia, despite […]
Tunisia: Covid-19 and Detention
As of 17 April 2020, there were 780 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 35 deaths related to the virus in Tunisia. No cases had yet been recorded among the prison population. While the President released 1,420 prisoners at the end of March, the GDP has been unable to find reports indicating that any measures to protect […]
Tunisia: Covid-19 and Detention
While the Tunisian government has taken several steps to protect prison populations, the GDP has been unable to find any reports indicating that authorities have adopted measures to assist migrants and asylum seekers, including those in detention. Instead, on 24 March it was reported that migrants continued to be placed in Ben Guerdane and Al […]
