On Tuesday, the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights revealed the results of a field study that included 379 migrants from the states of Tunisia, Sfax and Medenine, conducted between last March and May.
The study showed that 84.7% of immigrants do not have an entry visa to Tunisia, 10.3% have an entry visa, and 5% reported that they do not need a visa.
Ramadan Ben Omar, who is responsible for the issue of immigration at the forum, stated that “62.8% of immigrants are in an irregular situation, while 25% of them are asylum seekers, 7.4% are in a regular situation, and 4.7% are in an asylum situation.”
Ben Omar pointed out that 60% of the migrants entered Tunisia via the land border with Algeria, 23% entered via the land border with Libya, and 1.6% came via sea.
Ben Omar explained that “the motives for migration are multiple, ranging from political and economic reasons to climate changes, and 44.9% of them said that they came to Tunisia on foot, and 12% of them were accompanied by at least one child, and more than half of them are currently residing in the street, in parks, in tents, and in the open, to escape from the police or The National Guard and to avoid violence inflicted on some Tunisians, 56.7% of whom were exposed to physical violence.”
Ben Omar said, “75% of the immigrants entered Tunisia to escape violence in neighboring countries to communicate with international organizations present in Tunisia.”
Ben Omar added that 79.2% of them want to cross to Italy, 42% want to return to their countries, and 17% want to cross to Algeria and Libya.
Many migrants complained of mistreatment by the Tunisian authorities, with 62.5% of them expressing mistreatment by international organizations as well, according to Ben Omar.
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