Why is Tunisia expelling Black refugees?

PodcastPodcast, The Take

Thousands have been expelled from Tunisia as tensions between local residents and Black migrants and refugees grow.

In early July, Tunisian authorities forcibly expelled hundreds of Black migrants and refugees from Sfax, Tunisia’s second-largest city. Al Jazeera found many of them days later without food or water, wandering through the desert “no man’s land” on the border between Tunisia and Libya. Earlier this year, President Kais Saied accused this vulnerable population of criminal behaviour and warned of a conspiracy to replace Tunisian citizens. So what is being done to help these people?

In this episode: 

• Simon Speakman Cordall (@IgnitionUK), freelance journalist based in Tunisia
• Malik Traina (@libyanmind), Al Jazeera reporter based in Libya

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Amy Walters with Sonia Bhagat and our host Malika Bilal. Khaled Soltan and Miranda Lin fact-checked this episode.

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our lead of audience development and engagement is Aya Elmileik. Munera AlDosari and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers.

Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer, and Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.

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