Tunisia has come under renewed criticism from rights groups after authorities rounded up sub-Saharan migrants and asylum seekers and forcefully relocated them to a buffer zone between the Tunisian and Libyan border. Videos shared online show men, women, and children–some with injuries–stranded close to the sea, reportedly without any food or water.
Surging Discrimination
According to Human Rights Watch, since 2 July hundreds of black African asylum seekers and migrants have been arrested in raids in or near Sfax and transported to the buffer zone between the two countries. Here, they have essentially been trapped–unable to enter Libya or return to Tunisia. Those interviewed by the rights group claimed that their phones had been destroyed by authorities, and that some had been beaten by security forces. Others allege that several have died in the border area, and that Libyans had raped several women.