Tunisia Supports ‘Voluntary Return’ of Migrants Following Clashes with Locals

A record number of sub-Saharan migrants arrived in Tunisia in 2023 to cross from there to the shores of Europe. (AFP)
A record number of sub-Saharan migrants arrived in Tunisia in 2023 to cross from there to the shores of Europe. (AFP)
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Tunisia Supports ‘Voluntary Return’ of Migrants Following Clashes with Locals

A record number of sub-Saharan migrants arrived in Tunisia in 2023 to cross from there to the shores of Europe. (AFP)
A record number of sub-Saharan migrants arrived in Tunisia in 2023 to cross from there to the shores of Europe. (AFP)

Tunisian authorities are coordinating with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to respond to the plight of migrants in Jebiniana and Al Amra in the province of Sfax by supporting and facilitating their “voluntary returns,” a spokesman for the Tunisian National Guard said on Thursday.

Brigadier General Hossam El-Din Al-Jabali, spokesman for the General Administration of the National Guard, said the IOM and the Red Crescent inspected the situation of migrants who have been stranded in Jebiniana and Al Amra for months.

He said the migrants wish to return to their countries.

Last week, bloody clashes erupted between the migrants and locals, who had protested against their arrival in large numbers in Tunisia.

The IOM said it has aided the voluntary return of migrants from Tunisia to their countries of origin under the Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) program.

According to the Tunisian Interior Ministry, 7,100 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa have already left Tunisia under the program between March 2023 and May this year.

On May 9, the IOM said it facilitated the voluntary return of 161 migrants from Tunisia to The Gambia, as part of the AVRR program.

Upon their return, these migrants will receive ongoing health and reintegration support to help them rebuild their lives, IOM said in a statement.

Tunisian President Kais Saied described the influx of irregular migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa to Tunisia as an “unnatural” situation calling at a meeting of the National Security Council to deal with the situation in a “different way.”

A record number of sub-Saharan migrants arrived in Tunisia in 2023 to cross from there to the shores of Europe. The Interior Ministry said there are more than 32,000 migrants in the country, including 23,000 illegal migrants.

Khaled Ghali, president of the Tunisian General Labor Union, called on the European Union to assist Tunisia in dealing with the crisis.



Netanyahu Denounces Tactical Pauses in Gaza Fighting to Get in Aid

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends the Knesset plenum vote on the ultra-Orthodox conscription to military service law, in the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, 10 June 2024. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends the Knesset plenum vote on the ultra-Orthodox conscription to military service law, in the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, 10 June 2024. (EPA)
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Netanyahu Denounces Tactical Pauses in Gaza Fighting to Get in Aid

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends the Knesset plenum vote on the ultra-Orthodox conscription to military service law, in the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, 10 June 2024. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends the Knesset plenum vote on the ultra-Orthodox conscription to military service law, in the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, 10 June 2024. (EPA)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized plans announced by the military on Sunday to hold daily tactical pauses in fighting along one of the main roads into Gaza to facilitate aid delivery into the Palestinian enclave.

The military had announced the daily pauses from 0500 GMT until 1600 GMT in the area from the Kerem Shalom Crossing to the Salah al-Din Road and then northwards.

"When the prime minister heard the reports of an 11-hour humanitarian pause in the morning, he turned to his military secretary and made it clear that this was unacceptable to him," an Israeli official said.

The military clarified that normal operations would continue in Rafah, the main focus of its operation in southern Gaza, where eight soldiers were killed on Saturday.

The reaction from Netanyahu underlined political tensions over the issue of aid coming into Gaza, where international organizations have warned of a growing humanitarian crisis.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who leads one of the nationalist religious parties in Netanyahu's ruling coalition, denounced the idea of a tactical pause, saying whoever decided it was a "fool" who should lose their job.

DIVISIONS BETWEEN COALITION, ARMY

The spat was the latest in a series of clashes between members of the coalition and the military over the conduct of the war, now in its ninth month.

It came a week after centrist former general Benny Gantz quit the government, accusing Netanyahu of having no effective strategy in Gaza.

The divisions were laid bare last week in a parliamentary vote on a law on conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military, with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant voting against it in defiance of party orders, saying it was insufficient for the needs of the military.

Religious parties in the coalition have strongly opposed conscription for the ultra-Orthodox, drawing widespread anger from many Israelis, which has deepened as the war has gone on.

Lieutenant-General Herzi Halevi, the head of the military, said on Sunday there was a "definite need" to recruit more soldiers from the fast-growing ultra-Orthodox community.

RESERVISTS UNDER STRAIN

Despite growing international pressure for a ceasefire, an agreement to halt the fighting still appears distant, more than eight months since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas fighters on Israel triggered a ground assault on the enclave by Israeli forces.

Since the attack, which killed some 1,200 Israelis and foreigners in Israeli communities, Israel's military campaign has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health ministry figures, and destroyed much of Gaza.

Although opinion polls suggest most Israelis support the government's aim of destroying Hamas, there have been widespread protests attacking the government for not doing more to bring home around 120 hostages who are still in Gaza after being taken hostage on Oct. 7.

Meanwhile, Palestinian health officials said seven Palestinians were killed in two air strikes on two houses in Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza Strip.

As fighting in Gaza has continued, a lower level conflict across the Israel-Lebanon border is now threatening to spiral into a wider war as near-daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia have escalated.

In a further sign that fighting in Gaza could drag on, Netanyahu's government said on Sunday it was extending until Aug. 15 the period it would fund hotels and guest houses for residents evacuated from southern Israeli border towns.