Libyan authorities claimed on Wednesday, August 9, to have found at least 27 dead bodies, including some of children, in the desert near the border with Tunisia. The bodies were of migrants who were likely expelled from Tunisia.
The migrants were reportedly forced to wander in the blazing heat of the desert for days without enough food, water, and shelter after being forced across the Libyan border by the Tunisian authorities. They died due to dehydration and starvation.
Most of the dead bodies were found south of the Tunisia-Libya border crossing and have been identified as Sub-Saharan African migrants. These migrants have been facing increased racial violence in Tunisia since early July, leading to their forceful expulsion.
In the first week of July, Tunisian authorities forcefully relocated thousands of Sub-Saharan African migrants to an area near the Libyan border following an outbreak of violence in the city of Sfax over the death of a Tunisian citizen in clashes.
Migrants denounced that many of them were brutally assaulted during the relocation, had their phones confiscated, food thrown away, and their houses raided by the Tunisian authorities.
Meanwhile, Libyan authorities have formed an official committee to coordinate efforts to deal with the influx of migrants from Tunisia, according to a report by the Libya Observer. Libyan border security claims that every day, about 150 people cross into Libya after being expelled from Tunisia.
While Tunisian authorities denied any expulsion of migrants from the country on Wednesday, they met with Libyan authorities in the city of Tunis to discuss the migrant issue. Tunisia agreed to increase the monitoring of migrants at the Ras Jedir border crossing and to restrict their movement.
EU funds contribute to rising anti-migrant violence in Tunisia
Violence against migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa has increased in Tunisia ever since President Kais Saied publicly stated that they had an agenda to change the demographic profile of the country from Arab to African. He also accused them of promoting and participating in criminal activities.
While progressive and left groups have heavily criticized Saied’s statement, the government has advanced the implementation of policies to expel migrants from the country. This has led to an increasing number of migrants, as well as Tunisians, trying to cross the sea to enter Europe.
Following its allegations that Libya and Tunisia have emerged as a hub of migrant movement across the Mediterranean in recent years, the EU has invested billions of dollars in order to control the movement of migrants and asylum seekers in these two countries. The EU initially funded a border control regime in Libya and has now signed a deal with Tunisia to control the movement of migrants and refugees through its borders.
This particular version of the EU border control mechanism has invited criticism from movements and organizations across the region, including the UN, for denying commitments under refugee laws and promoting crimes against humanity.
