Summary:

On Wednesday, 10 July 2024, the local labor union leaders in Sfax issued a statement threatening to organize a general strike due to frustrations over the economic and security impacts from the influx of irregular migrants. 

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This announcement followed what the union leaders called a deterioration of the region’s security, attributing a rise in violence to the large numbers of irregular Sub-Saharan migrants present. 

The union statements also noted growing fears among residents in Sfax that the influx of migrants will continue impacting employment opportunities for residents in the area, as well as basic food supplies. 

Tunisian President Kais Saied responded to these claims by ordering the deployment of security forces to ensure the security of local residents. 

Outlook: 

The flows of migrants from Sub-Saharan countries are likely to raise more tensions as the current administration rejects the idea of organizing camps for the migrants. Lacking official locations for migrants to gather and receive humanitarian aid, migrants have begun to build ad hoc camps, often on farms and other land owned by local residents along Tunisia’s southeastern coast. 

The precarious situation of these migrants can prompt desperate actions, including theft and violence, which further increases the broad criminalization of and skepticism toward Sub-Saharan migrants. The framing of migrants by the administration as a security threat continues to feed popular backlash against them.   

With Tunisia and its regional partners, Algeria and Libya, lacking the resources to secure their southern desert borders, irregular migration flows will continue and increase tensions. 

With the Presidential election approaching, the administration’s response to irregular migration will likely continue to be carefully shaped to communicate to Tunisian voters a hardline approach that will address their immediate concerns. 

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