The AU must not allow Tunisia’s Saied to harm African unity

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By Webdesk


On February 21, at a meeting of the National Security Council in Tunis, Tunisian President Kais Saied condemned irregular migration from sub-Saharan Africa, describing it as a conspiracy to erase Tunisia’s identity.

“The undeclared goal of the successive waves of illegal immigration is to see Tunisia as a purely African country with no ties to the Arab and Muslim nations,” he said. “Hardes of illegal immigrants continue to arrive from sub-Saharan Africa, with all the violence, crime and unacceptable practices that entails.”

Two days later, the 65-year-old leader called on the Tunisian interior minister to crack down on illegal migration. and try to damage our relations with our brothers.”

However, he did not budge on his baseless claim that migrants from sub-Saharan Africa are arriving in Tunisia as part of a plot to change demographics.

The estimated number of black African migrants in Tunisia today, including those without proper papers, is only 21,000. Given the country’s 12 million inhabitants, they are nowhere near the numbers needed to change Tunisia’s demographic makeup. The convoluted plot to end Tunisia’s “alliance with the Arab and Muslim nations” is clearly just Saied’s fabrication.

Nevertheless, the president’s provocative remarks sparked a wave of discrimination and violence against sub-Saharan Africans in Tunisia.

Hundreds were arbitrarily arrested, fired, evicted from their homes and violently assaulted.

According to Amnesty International, a 22-year-old Cameroonian asylum seeker was hospitalized after being stabbed in the chest and left for dead by six Tunisian men, who shouted: “Go back home, you gang of blacks, we don’t want you.” here.” Another woman, a student from Burkina Faso, was arbitrarily detained and physically assaulted by police despite showing her school papers.

“In my neighborhood, black people were tracked down, chased, raped and their homes looted by Tunisians,” a university student who was voluntarily repatriated to Guinea told AFP news agency.

In Tunis, dozens of migrant families left homeless as a result of Saied’s actions encamped outside the headquarters of the International Organization for Migration.

The president’s racist mob also led to widespread condemnation.

On February 25, Tunisian protesters took to the streets with Black Lives Matter signs to denounce racism and declare that they are Africans.

On the same day, African Union Commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat strongly condemned the “shocking statement by Tunisian authorities directed at fellow Africans”, urging Tunis to “abstain from racist hate speech” .

Later, the World Bank put its Country Partnership Framework with Tunisia on hold, while the Tunisian General Labor Union said it will “defend the rights of migrants, regardless of nationality or color”.

Despite growing criticism, Saied tried to “clarify” his comments during a meeting with Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo on March 8.

He claimed there was a “malicious interpretation” of his comments and issued a “blatant denial” that he is racist. “I’m African and I’m proud of it.” But when meeting with Embalo, who is also the current president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), he would of course claim to be one of us.

While Saied’s “clarification” of his remarks failed to convince most in the international community, he had already managed to garner enthusiastic support for his racist anti-migration agenda from one European politician.

Eric Zemmour, a far-right politician from France widely known for his anti-immigration and anti-Islam views, shared a news report about Saied’s comments on Twitter, writing: “The Maghreb countries themselves are beginning to raise the alarm in the face of the wave of migration. Here it is Tunisia that urgently wants to take measures to protect its people. What are we waiting for to fight against the Great Replacement?”

Zemmour’s mention of the “great replacement” in relation to Saied’s remarks was understandable, as Saied’s claims about the alleged ambition of African migrants to change Tunisia’s demographics do indeed fit well into the popular white supremacist conspiracy theory that falsely claims that whites are replaced. and lose their position in society due to a plot to increase non-white immigration.

In this context, it can be argued that Saied borrows its right-wing populist rhetoric from the far right in the west, reintroducing the race-based ideologies and false hierarchies of the colonial era to the African continent.

As a black African, living in Africa, I have always felt extremely blessed to be fairly isolated from the white supremacist hatred and violence that is pervasive in Europe and the US.

I never imagined that an African president would use a white nationalist conspiracy theory that originated in Europe to target black Africans to score cheap political points in Tunisia, an African country.

I remember with great fondness how Africans of all shades, socio-economic backgrounds and nationalities supported Morocco last December during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

When the Atlas Lions became the first Arab and African team to reach the semi-finals of a FIFA World Cup tournament, millions of sub-Saharan Africans celebrated their astonishing and unprecedented achievement as enthusiastically as their Arab neighbors.

After Morocco lost to France in the semi-finals, Morocco’s coach Walid Regragui paid tribute to Africa, stating: “We represented our country and our continent.”

His sincere and admirable words confirmed what everyone knew: the Atlas Lions did it not only for Morocco and the Arab world, but for all of Africa.

Africans across the continent were proud and that sense of pride, it must be said, transcended the football field.

For possibly the first time in history, a post-colonial and post-racial Africa stood united and celebrated together as one big, diverse family.

Barely three months after Qatar 2022, Saied is now seeking to destroy that unity to divert the world’s attention from the extensive failings of his authoritarian regime.

In July 2021, he suspended parliament, fired the prime minister, took executive control of the country and dismantled independent institutions. He acted with incredible force against the political opposition and his other critics and was condemned by many of Tunisia’s international partners. Since assuming near-absolute power, he not only destroyed Tunisia’s fledgling democracy and international status, but also failed to revive its economy and solve the myriad socio-economic problems facing the population .

Now it seems he is trying to scapegoat undocumented black African migrants for all his failures, sacrificing African unity and solidarity in the process.

The African Union swiftly and firmly rebuked Saied’s divisive remarks and, in response to subsequent government action and racist attacks against sub-Saharan nationals, indefinitely postponed a conference it was due to hold in Tunis in March.

As timely and commendable as these actions were, they might not stop Saied from fomenting racial violence and divisiveness with Tunisia’s sub-Saharan neighbors under the guise of tackling irregular migration.

Xenophobic violence with racial overtones is not new to Africa or unique to Tunisia. Last year, the United Nations warned that South Africa “stands on the verge of explosive xenophobic violence”. But Tunisia is currently the only country on the continent where the president blatantly incites violence with racist dog whistles and conspiracy theories.

Sure, Saied said he’s “not a racist” and “a proud African,” but he’s yet to denounce the sinister Great Replacement conspiracy. This calculated silence shows an enormous disregard for the collective well-being and unity of Africa.

As Mahamat pointed out in his initial condemnation of Saied’s comments on irregular migrants, Tunisia has certainly flouted “the letter and spirit” of the AU’s fundamental values.

So it should be reprimanded accordingly and suspended from the organization, at least until Saied publicly disavows the “great replacement” theory and ends his anti-migrant and anti-black African scaremongering.

The AU must take action to protect Africa from the populist nationalism and racism of the likes of Saied. Without unity, the Pan-African agenda for 2063 is doomed to failure. It is high time the AU showed its authority and brought African leaders into line who are trying to divide us along racial lines.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial view of Al Jazeera.



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