\n
<\/p>\n
TUNIS: Less than a year after arriving in Tunisia, Michael Oppona had not planned to return to Ghana.<\/p>\n
But, faced with increasingly harsh pressure from local authorities, he is among thousands of sub-Saharan migrants seeking to head home.<\/p>\n
Many, like Oppona, have registered for a free return to their countries of origin.<\/p>\n
But humanitarians say many migrants and refugees are being pushed out against their will.<\/p>\n
Oppona, 37, had crossed the Sahara with his wife and two toddlers before arriving in Tunis but Europe proved out of reach after a 2023 deal with Tunis to curb migrant departures.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people here, the government… they treat us like we\u2019re not human,\u201d said Oppona, waiting for a \u201cvoluntary return\u201d appointment near the International Organization for Migration headquarters in Tunis.<\/p>\n
Many sub-Saharan migrants in Tunisia face increasingly harsh conditions following a speech by President Kais Saied in 2023 in which he said \u201chordes of illegal migrants\u201d were posing a demographic threat.<\/p>\n
The IOM told AFP it had helped 4,965 migrants return to their countries of origin from January 1 to August 31.<\/p>\n
The IOM\u2019s program is separate from a namesake program run by the Tunisian government, and operates a major \u201creturn hub\u201d near the city of Sfax.<\/p>\n
Authorities did not respond to several requests by AFP for interviews and a visit the center.<\/p>\n
UNCLEAR CONDITIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n In June, a Tunisian National Guard official told AFP that nearly 5,000 migrants had been sent to their home countries in the preceding 12 months and that \u201cnear-daily\u201d return flights were now scheduled.<\/p>\n But humanitarian sources say these returns should not be considered \u201cvoluntary,\u201d arguing that socio-economic and political pressures including racism were deliberately forcing migrants to leave Tunisia.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are clearly expulsions,\u201d one source said.<\/p>\n Humanitarian sources also said migrants were at times coerced to leave even when it was unsafe for them in their home country.<\/p>\n \u201cAuthorities say that migrants stay at the so-called \u2018return hubs\u2019 for about two weeks, whereas we know that that process can take months, especially with people without documentation,\u201d one said.<\/p>\n The sources also said the conditions in which migrants were held were unclear, adding that some might have been sent to the wrong country.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve seen that more people have been arriving in Libya lately,\u201d one said.<\/p>\n UN experts in July said they were alarmed by an \u201calleged system of mass detention, expulsion and trafficking\u201d at the Tunisia-Libya border.<\/p>\n Neither Tunisian nor Libyan authorities have commented on the allegations.<\/p>\n The humanitarian sources to whom AFP spoke also raised concerns over the lack of official information regarding the government\u2019s return program.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t know how the authorities have been repatriating people who hold no documents, for example,\u201d one source said.<\/p>\n \u2018MORE PRESSURE NOW\u2019 <\/strong><\/p>\n More than 40 global NGOs have said that refugees and migrants in Tunisia faced harsh mistreatment, including rape, according to testimonies they gathered.<\/p>\n In a joint statement in July, the NGOs \u2014 including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International \u2014 said \u201crefugees, asylum seekers and migrants have faced racist violence\u201d in Tunisia, added to \u201carbitrary detention, collective expulsions, abuse, torture and other ill-treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n Their statement marked the three-year anniversary of a controversial deal the European Union signed with Tunisia to provide Tunis with financing, equipment and training to stop irregular departures.<\/p>\n The groups said the deal came at \u201ca significant cost to human rights and dignity\u201d and called the EU \u201ccomplicit.\u201d<\/p>\n Campaigners say Tunisia\u2019s crackdown on organizations that supported migrants, compounded by the suspension of the UN refugee agency\u2019s operations in 2024, have barred thousands from receiving help.<\/p>\n Using pseudonyms, 24-year-old Moussa and 22-year-old Karim from Guinea also waited for an IOM \u201cvoluntary return\u201d appointment in Tunis.<\/p>\n The two friends said they came to Tunis three years ago with one aim: to cross to Europe.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it\u2019s impossible to go now, and impossible to stay,\u201d said Karim.<\/p>\n Moussa said there was \u201cmore pressure now,\u201d his voice shaking.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not free. The police prevent you from going anywhere \u2014 to work or get something to eat,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cSo why not go back home?\u201c<\/p>\n<\/div>\n