Country Profile
GAPs Country Profile: Tunisia / Blog Posts
Migration in Tunisia: Status Quo and the Legal Point of View
by Hanen Ben Othman, University of Carthage and University of Sousse, Tunisia, hanen_benothman7516@yahoo.com
Tunisia is a Mediterranean country with 1,300 km of coastline stretching from the Western Mediterranean in the North to the Central Mediterranean in the East. Its sensitive location at the heart of the Mediterranean makes it a departure area of Tunisian and Subsaharan illegal migrants and a key partner for the European Union and its Member States. Traditionally a country of emigration, Tunisia has gradually become a country of transit of Sub-Saharan migrants towards the “European El Dorado”. Before reaching Tunisia, they cross Libya and Algeria, two countries opening on the Sahel countries such Mali, Niger, Chad and Sudan…
Mind the Gap
by Terry Martin, SPIA UG, t.martin@spia-europa.de
“It’s like a scary movie.” That’s how Pierre Sanga from Cameroon describes his experience in Tunisia amidst an upsurge in anti-migrant sentiment. Mr. Sanga’s predicament was highlighted in a recent television report by DW News, Germany’s international broadcaster, where I regularly work as an anchor. (Report, intro, and interview with the Tunisia Director of Human Rights Watch here.) At the end of the report, Mr. Sanga is seen standing on a beach looking across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. He explains with resignation what it is that motivates him and millions of others to up…