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Transcript/ScriptTUNISIA MIGRANTS
HEADLINE: In Tunisia, Fear and Shrinking Options for Sub-Saharan Africans
TEASER: A springboard to Europe, the North African country is cracking down on undocumented migrants
PUBLISHED AT: 8/22/2023 at 5:50p
BYLINE: Lisa Bryant
DATELINE: TUNIS
VIDEO EDITOR:
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: LR, MAS, djones for balance
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA Original, Reuters, AFP
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV X RADIO __
TRT: 2:04
VID APPROVED BY: Jepsen
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES: Accompanying WEB photos via email.))
((INTRO)) Activists warn a deal between Tunisia and Libya to share responsibility for hundreds of sub-Saharan African migrants once stranded on their shared border risks the migrants’ rights and doesn’t solve the core problem. It also raises fresh concerns about Tunisia, where Black migrants have faced a surge of racist attacks. For VOA, Lisa Bryant reports from Tunis.
((NARRATOR))
Joseph Milk from Liberia found a home and job in Tunisia after crossing the Sahara Desert five years ago — hoping to save enough money for an illegal boat ride to Europe.
Instead, he ended up at this informal migrant camp in Tunis. Milk says his life changed in February, when Tunisian President Kais Saied denounced illegal migration — suggesting sub-Saharan migrants were changing the country’s demographic makeup.
((Joseph Milk, Migrant From Liberia (male, in English))
“My boss told me to leave work. The house I was staying in, they told me to leave the house. I became homeless.”
((NARRATOR))
Tunisia’s government denies claims it is carrying out collective expulsions. Rights groups and media reports say Tunisian authorities last month sent hundreds of other
African migrants to the desert near the border with Libya after clashes with locals in the southern city of Sfax.
That didn’t stop the European Union from striking a deal with Tunisia to control illegal migration to its shores, prompting a warning from human rights advocates.
[[RADIO VERSION: Salsabil Chellali is Tunisia Director for Human Rights Watch.]]
((Salsabil Chellali, Tunisia Director at Human Rights Watch (FEMALE IN ENGLISH))
“Pushing for this cooperation and more control on migration can only lead in this context to more abuse against Black migrants but also Tunisians.”
((NARRATOR))
Critics accuse Tunisia’s government of fostering a climate of hate and violence against sub-Saharan African migrants— which authorities deny.
[[RADIO VERSION: One of those critics is Reem Garfi of Mnemty, an organization that advocates against racism in Tunisia.]]
((Reem Garfi, Activist, Mnemty) (FEMALE IN ENGLISH — VOA ORIGINAL))
“To see people feeling unwelcome and attacked in my country is very heartbreaking.”
((EDITORS — PLEASE BLUR OUT HIS FACE))(VOA ORIGINAL))
((NARRATOR))
VOA is protecting the identity of this migrant from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He says he’s afraid to leave his Tunis apartment after being stopped by police — despite having legal papers.
At the Tunis camp, African migrants rely on the kindness of strangers and begging to get by, unable to move on nd unwilling to return home.
((Lisa Bryant, for VOA News, Tunis)
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)
Tunis
Embargo DateAugust 22, 2023 16:13 EDT
Byline
Lisa Bryant, for VOA News
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
