Tue 07 March 2023:
The African Union has postponed a conference that was scheduled to take place in Tunisia this month amid mounting criticism of a government crackdown on migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, Anadolu News Agency reports.
“The Pan-African Network Conference on Fighting Illicit Financial Flows in Africa that was scheduled to convene in Tunisia from 15-17 March 2023 has been postponed,” a spokeswoman for the AU said in text messages to Anadolu on Tuesday.
The AU did not give a reason for the postponement, but it has been critical of the North African country’s treatment of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa.
TUNISIA: AFRICAN UNION CONDEMNS PRESIDENT KAIS SAIED’S ‘HATE SPEECH’ AGAINST MIGRANTS
Tensions escalated last month between Tunisia and the African Union amid a flow of irregular migrants into the North African country.
In February, Tunisian President, Kais Saied, called for ending the flow of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa into his country, saying irregular migration aims to change the country’s demography.
His statements, however, drew the ire of Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairman of the African Union Commission, who termed the Tunisian President’s comments as “shocking”.
Rights groups have documented a rising number of attacks on sub-Saharan Africans following Saied’s comments, including evictions, assault and racist slurs.
Saied’s comments were praised by the French far-right politician Eric Zemmour. This comes as his campaign of arrests has caused widespread fear among sub-Saharan Africans as well as Black Tunisians.
Tunisian rights groups have accused Saied of hate speech.
“It is a racist approach just like the campaigns in Europe,” Romdhane Ben Amor, spokesperson for the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES), told Reuters news agency. “The presidential campaign aims to create an imaginary enemy for Tunisians to distract them from their basic problems.”
In a statement, AU said a meeting was held with the Tunisian Envoy to express the “African Union’s deep shock and concern at the form and substance of the statement targeting fellow Africans, notwithstanding their legal status in the country.”
“The Chairperson reminds all countries, particularly African Union Member States, to honour their obligations under international law and relevant African Union instruments to treat all migrants with dignity, wherever they come from, refrain from radicalised hate speech that could bring people to harm, and prioritise their safety and human rights,” the statement added.
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