Ahmad 
Tunisian artist Latifa expressed her controversial position on the increasing presence of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa in Tunisia during the Tabarka International Festival in Tunisia.
During her theatrical performance, Latifa stressed that Tunisia should remain reserved for Tunisians only, rejecting any projects to settle irregular migrants.
This statement sparked a wave of division among the public and social media users, as some found her comments to have a racist tone, while others saw her statements as expressing her concern for national sovereignty without offending any group.
The Tabarka Festival was first launched in 1973, but it gained greater fame in the 1980s, especially after it began to focus primarily on jazz music.
The crisis related to migrants in Tunisia has escalated significantly, as the Tunisian government’s policies towards migrants and illegal residents have sparked widespread controversy domestically and internationally.
Reports indicate that Tunisian authorities have carried out mass deportations of sub-Saharan African migrants to the desert borders with Libya and Algeria, where they were left in difficult conditions without adequate food or water.
For his part, Tunisian President Kais Saied made controversial statements about migrants, considering that they are changing the demographic composition of Tunisia and turning it into an “African” state instead of an “Arab-Islamic” state.
It is worth noting that the number of sub-Saharan African migrants constitutes 0.6% of Tunisia’s population of 12 million people, and Tunisian Interior Minister Kamal Faqi revealed that 80,000 migrants from sub-Saharan African countries are present in the country.
The Tunisian Parliament rejects a draft law to open an office for “the Qatar Development Fund”