{"id":117417,"date":"2021-10-02T08:52:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-02T06:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.asgi.it\/anti-discrimination\/deportations-of-sub-saharan-migrants-from-tunisia-to-libya\/"},"modified":"2024-12-20T14:13:04","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T13:13:04","slug":"deportations-of-sub-saharan-migrants-from-tunisia-to-libya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.asgi.it\/en\/news\/deportations-of-sub-saharan-migrants-from-tunisia-to-libya\/","title":{"rendered":"Deportations of Sub-Saharan migrants from Tunisia to Libya"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Among them there was a pregnant woman who gave birth to her baby in Libya just after her arrival there.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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ASGI, the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and other Tunisian and French associations \u2013 Forum Tunisien pour les Droits Economiques et Sociaux, Avocats Sans Fronti\u00e8res, M\u00e9decins du monde, Mission Tunisie, ADLI-Association tunisienne de d\u00e9fense des libert\u00e9s individuelles and Association BEITY \u2013 have come together to denounce that Tunisian authorities rescued a group of foreigners at sea and then deported them to Libya. <\/p>

\u201cPushing back men, women, many of whom are pregnant, and children without identifying them, providing initial assistance and giving them the chance to apply for international protection is a violation of fundamental human rights and of the right to asylum itself\u201d.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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On Monday, 27th<\/sup> September 2021,\nseveral boats \u2013 four with people from the Sub-Saharan Africa region and three\nwith Tunisians on board \u2013 left Kerkennah, a group of islands off Sfax. After 12\nhours of navigation, they were intercepted by the Tunisian National Guard and\ntaken back to Tunisia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to witnesses, the Tunisians nationals\nwere released, while the Sub-Saharan people were transferred to the Libyan\nborder. According to our sources, the group consisted of around one hundred\npeople, among them several women and minors. At least three of the women were\npregnant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several human rights violations were reported:\ndeportation at gunpoint, mobile phones requisition, lack of medical or\nobstetrical assistance, abuses and violence, arbitrary arrests and detention.\nOnce at the Libyan border, Tunisian National Guard officers allegedly forced\nmigrants to cross the border at gunpoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One group of migrants was kidnapped after\ncrossing the border into Libya. According to our sources, they are currently detained\nnot far from the border, in a private house in Zuwara. A ransom of 500 USD has\nallegedly been set for each migrant. Another group of migrants, initially\nstopped at Ras Jedir, was recently arrested by the Libyans. Their mobile\nphones, at present out of reach, were allegedly requisitioned. This group\nincludes two pregnant women, one of whom is eight months pregnant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Videos on the Internet show a woman forced to\ndeliver her baby out in the open, with only one man helping her. She was then\ntransferred by the armed forces who watched the delivery to Ben Guerdane\nHospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to witnesses, one of these groups of\nmigrants not only suffered violence by the Tunisian security forces from the\nmoment of their capture until their pushback at the frontier, but it was also\ndeprived of food and basic assistance for five days. Moreover, several\nSub-Saharan women reported being raped in Libya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, other witnesses report another\narbitrary pushback to Libya at the end of August, which involved many women and\nminors. Hence the pushback of 27th<\/sup> September at the Libyan border is\nnot an isolated case but an example of common practices. These acts are\npresumably based on the assumption that foreign citizens passed through Libya\nbefore entering Tunisia, although they were arrested while leaving Tunisia and\nnot while crossing the Tunisia-Libya border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The behaviour of the Tunisian authorities\ninfringes the provisions of the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention, ratified by\nTunisia in 1957. Moreover, pushbacks to Libya, a country which cannot in any\nway be considered safe for the return of migrants, do not comply with\ninternational law and the principle of non-refoulement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pushback of men, women, many of whom are\npregnant, and children, without any prior identification and provision of\ninitial assistance and without giving them a chance to apply for international\nprotection, is a violation of fundamental human rights and of the right to\nasylum itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This incident is all the more serious because\nLibya is a country without any legal framework on asylum and because violence\nand torture on migrants, many of whom are very vulnerable, have been frequently\nreported by the international community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pushbacks to Libya make Tunisia an accomplice in the serious violations and violence perpetrated on foreign citizens.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The signatory\norganisations denounce human rights violations against Sub-Saharan migrants and\ndemand that Tunisian authorities clarify the facts, urgently intervene to\nguarantee adequate and dignified assistance to these people and immediately\ntake political decisions in order to establish a clear mechanism and procedure\nfor taking charge of foreign citizens rescued at sea and to guarantee that they\nare treated in compliance with the commitments made by Tunisia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Signatory organisations<\/strong>:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

ASF \u2013 Avocats Sans\nFronti\u00e8res <\/p>\n\n\n\n

FTDES – Forum Tunisien\npour les Droits Economiques et Sociaux <\/p>\n\n\n\n

OMCT – Organisation\nmondiale contre le torture <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ASGI Association –\nAssociazione per gli Studi Giuridici sull’Immigrazione <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Terre d’Asile Tunisie<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M\u00e9decins du Monde,\nTunisian Mission<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ADLI – Association\ntunisienne de d\u00e9fense des libert\u00e9s individuelles <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Association BEITY<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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