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Amnesty Slams Tunisia for Committing ‘Widespread Rights Violations’ Against Migrants

FILE PHOTO: Migrants gather near burnt tents, as Tunisian authorities have dismantled makeshift camps housing sub-Saharan African migrants, in Amra, Sfax, Tunisia April 24, 2025. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Migrants gather near burnt tents, as Tunisian authorities have dismantled makeshift camps housing sub-Saharan African migrants, in Amra, Sfax, Tunisia April 24, 2025. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi/File Photo
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Amnesty Slams Tunisia for Committing ‘Widespread Rights Violations’ Against Migrants

FILE PHOTO: Migrants gather near burnt tents, as Tunisian authorities have dismantled makeshift camps housing sub-Saharan African migrants, in Amra, Sfax, Tunisia April 24, 2025. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Migrants gather near burnt tents, as Tunisian authorities have dismantled makeshift camps housing sub-Saharan African migrants, in Amra, Sfax, Tunisia April 24, 2025. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi/File Photo

Amnesty International on Thursday slammed Tunisia for committing “widespread human rights violations” against irregular migrants, including rape and torture, and condemned the EU’s “cynical” cooperation with Tunis to curb irregular migration.

Tunisia is a major departure point for tens of thousands of migrants, many from sub-Saharan Africa, attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea each year in the hopes of a better life in Europe.

In a new report based on research between February 2023 and June 2025, Amnesty said it had interviewed some 120 refugees and migrants, mostly from Guinea, Sudan and Sierra Leone, AFP reported.

“Tunisia’s migration and asylum system is now characterized by racist policing and widespread human rights violations,” the rights group said.

It said that system “generally disregards the lives, safety and dignity of refugees and migrants, particularly those who are Black.”

Amnesty said it had gathered “chilling testimonies of dehumanizing sexual violence, severe beatings and other torture and cruel treatment” against migrants, allegedly committed by Tunisia’s National Guard.

The North African country’s policy on irregular migration shifted in 2023, Amnesty added, “with disturbing public advocacy of racial hatred and xenophobia shared by the highest officials.”

In February that year, Tunisian President Kais Saied said “hordes of illegal migrants” posed a demographic threat to the Arab-majority country.

Saied’s “speech triggered an upsurge in anti-Black violence, with groups of individuals attacking Black refugees and migrants in the streets,” the Amnesty report said.

The organization said it interviewed 20 black migrants who were attacked by mobs in Tunis during February and March 2023.

The rights watchdog also said it “found that the Tunisian coastguard repeatedly resorted to reckless, unlawful and violent actions that put peoples’ lives at risk and indeed caused deaths.”

A Cameroonian woman cited in the report said coastguard officers “kept hitting our boat with long batons with sharp endings (until) they pierced it.”

She said “there were at least two women and three babies without life vests (and) we saw them drown.”

Fourteen refugees and migrants told Amnesty they had been “raped, or had witnessed rapes, or had experienced other forms of sexual assault or harassment, by Tunisian security authorities.”

The rights group also criticized the EU for a July 2023 agreement with Tunisia to tackle irregular migration, saying it had come “during a peak of racist violence” and “without effective human rights safeguards.”

Amnesty denounced the bloc’s efforts to curb arrivals as “a cynical attempt to entrap refugees and migrants where their lives and rights are at risk.”

On Wednesday, Tunisian Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali Nafti, quoted by several media outlets, said all migrants who entered Tunisian territory illegally would be repatriated “with human dignity.”

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Arab World

Washington Pushes for Lebanese Army to Secure Southern Border Alone

A UNIFIL soldier aboard a military vehicle during a patrol in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL)
A UNIFIL soldier aboard a military vehicle during a patrol in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL)
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Washington Pushes for Lebanese Army to Secure Southern Border Alone

A UNIFIL soldier aboard a military vehicle during a patrol in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL)
A UNIFIL soldier aboard a military vehicle during a patrol in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL)

Lebanon fears a vacuum in its south when the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force expires late this year. The United States and Europe agree that the Lebanese army should ultimately secure the border, but differ over whether it can do so alone now.

Washington last week blocked a Lebanese proposal to extend the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) by six months.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix is due in Beirut next week to discuss ways to avoid a vacuum with President Joseph Aoun and other Lebanese officials.

Lebanese ministerial sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Beirut was waiting to hear Lacroix’s proposals. Options raised so far include a European force to replace UNIFIL and more personnel for the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO).

The sources also cited a French-Italian initiative to form a replacement force after European and Asian countries contributing to UNIFIL said they were willing to stay in Lebanon to continue the mission.

Most UN Security Council members support extending UNIFIL’s mandate or forming a replacement force, but Washington opposes both options. Western diplomatic sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the US position is that the Lebanese army alone should secure the border. On that basis, they said, “there should be no need for any other force in the area.”

Europe agrees that the army should eventually protect the border and maintain security on its own. It says the army cannot yet do the job without international support.

“The Lebanese army should ultimately take on the mission by itself, but at present it cannot do so alone and needs international support during this transitional phase,” the diplomatic sources said.

The European position rests on two factors. The first is Israel’s occupation of Lebanese territory and the failure of security talks to reach understandings that would allow direct coordination between the Lebanese and Israeli armies.

The second is the Lebanese army’s need for more personnel and weapons. That issue was not settled at meetings in Paris last week, despite international willingness to support the army and official security forces.

Lebanon backs the European approach. Its army “needs weapons, ammunition and vehicles,” Lebanese sources said. “Without the support it needs, the army cannot carry out the mission alone.”

“Washington must begin equipping and strengthening the army before talking about leaving it solely responsible for border security,” the sources told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Beirut’s insistence on an international force also reflects a concern about direct coordination with Israel. Lebanese officials believe Washington’s opposition to a force in the south is meant to push the Lebanese army toward such coordination. Beirut, meanwhile, wants an international witness to Israeli violations.

“Beirut wants a witness to any violations Israel commits in the south, because Tel Aviv will dispute the Lebanese army’s reports and campaign against it,” Lebanese sources following the issue said.

“What is needed is an international force that can testify to Israeli violations before the world and help the Lebanese army deploy.”

Lebanon also wants the force to help clear mines and remnants of war, reopen roads, and provide electricity, ambulance services and health care at clinics, the sources said. The army’s duties in the south include securing the return of residents under current conditions.

Several countries, particularly in Europe, have expressed interest in a replacement force if efforts to extend UNIFIL’s mandate fail.

Representatives of European countries discussed an alternative mission at meetings early this month, Western diplomatic sources told Asharq Al-Awsat. They focused on bringing together countries that could work well together and securing the approval of Lebanon and Israel. Funding was also discussed.

France, Italy, Spain and Britain are among the countries willing to join any replacement force, Lebanese sources following the issue said.

UNIFIL currently has 8,100 personnel in the south. Its French contingent continues to patrol the border area occupied by Israel and escort convoys of Lebanese residents from three predominantly Christian border villages on journeys to and from other parts of Lebanon.

Lebanon has raised the need for an international presence in the south with visiting officials.

Aoun most recently discussed it in Beirut with Vice Admiral Edward Ahlgren, Britain’s senior defense adviser for the Middle East.

Aoun said that allowing UNIFIL’s mandate to lapse without forming a replacement international force would create a vacuum that would not serve security or stability, particularly while Israel continues to occupy a number of southern villages and towns.

Lebanon’s efforts have met US opposition. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam plans to seek a way through the impasse with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio when they meet in Washington next Monday.

Salam also raised the issue with several officials he met in New York on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.

They included UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher, whom he met on Thursday.

“We discussed the importance of maintaining an international presence under the UN umbrella in the south after UNIFIL’s mission ends, to prevent any vacuum and support stability and the process of extending state authority,” Salam said.

Arab World

How Egypt Benefits From Expanding Nile Basin Power, Water Projects

Tanzania’s president and Egypt’s prime minister attend the inauguration of the Julius Nyerere Dam in Tanzania last month. (Egyptian Cabinet/Facebook)
Tanzania’s president and Egypt’s prime minister attend the inauguration of the Julius Nyerere Dam in Tanzania last month. (Egyptian Cabinet/Facebook)
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How Egypt Benefits From Expanding Nile Basin Power, Water Projects

Tanzania’s president and Egypt’s prime minister attend the inauguration of the Julius Nyerere Dam in Tanzania last month. (Egyptian Cabinet/Facebook)
Tanzania’s president and Egypt’s prime minister attend the inauguration of the Julius Nyerere Dam in Tanzania last month. (Egyptian Cabinet/Facebook)

Egypt is seeking funding for 36 projects in the southern Nile Basin, expanding its role in the region through hydropower, electricity and water schemes that experts say could benefit both Cairo and its neighbors.

The projects include power interconnections, transmission lines, water supplies and multipurpose schemes. Experts told Asharq Al-Awsat that Egypt’s growing involvement was guided by a principle of mutual benefit.

The southern Nile Basin countries are Burundi, Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. They are among the Nile’s upstream countries and, together with the eastern Nile countries of Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt and Eritrea, make up the Nile River Basin region.

Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hani Sewilam said on Friday that Cairo had agreed to support efforts to mobilize funding for the 36 projects after studying them, exchanging information, assessing their impacts and reaching agreement through consultations.

Sewilam pointed to Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere Dam as a practical example of cooperation among Nile Basin countries. The Egyptian-Tanzanian partnership had brought gains to both sides, he said.

The dam provides electricity for Tanzania, Sewilam said, and its power could also support regional integration, cross-border connections and electricity trade with neighboring countries.

He also cited the Grand Fula Dam project in South Sudan, saying Egypt supported Juba’s development goals, including that project.

Tanzania inaugurated the Julius Nyerere hydropower dam and plant in late August. The Egyptian consortium of Arab Contractors and Elsewedy Electric built it over five years, with 1,700 Egyptian engineers and technicians among a workforce of about 12,000.

Hussein al-Buheiri, an African affairs expert at the National Center for Middle East Studies, said Egypt had the resources and capabilities to play a central role in developing Nile Basin and Horn of Africa countries, particularly through hydropower dams and irrigation and agricultural projects.

He said Egyptian companies’ work on the Julius Nyerere Dam and Egypt’s help in building power plants in countries such as Djibouti showed how the country could act as a strategic development partner.

African countries gained development, while Egypt gained investment and thousands of jobs, he said.

That approach also advanced Egyptian foreign policy and helped protect its Nile water security by drawing basin countries closer to Cairo and countering Ethiopian moves, al-Buheiri said.

Salah Halima, deputy chairman of the Egyptian Council for African Affairs and a former assistant foreign minister, said Egypt’s support for development projects reflected a broader commitment to shared interests and sustainable development across the basin.

Egypt had long supported water and electricity projects in Nile Basin countries, approving and helping carry out dozens of them, he said. That record showed Cairo’s support for those countries’ right to develop without harming others.

Halima described current water projects as an expression of partnership and mutual investment between Egypt and its African neighbors. Their expansion, he said, was part of longstanding collective action and close cooperation.

The message, he said, was clear: understanding and cooperation, rather than confrontation or dispute, should guide the management of international rivers.

Arab World

Can Libyan Lawmakers Force a Change in Parliament’s Leadership?

A still from the Libyan House of Representatives’ latest session on Sept. 15 (video posted by the House on its Facebook page)
A still from the Libyan House of Representatives’ latest session on Sept. 15 (video posted by the House on its Facebook page)
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Can Libyan Lawmakers Force a Change in Parliament’s Leadership?

A still from the Libyan House of Representatives’ latest session on Sept. 15 (video posted by the House on its Facebook page)
A still from the Libyan House of Representatives’ latest session on Sept. 15 (video posted by the House on its Facebook page)

A push to change the rules of Libya’s parliament and rotate its leadership has put a question to the Benghazi-based chamber: Can lawmakers unseat Speaker Aguila Saleh after nearly 12 years at its helm?

The effort has also raised questions about why a bloc opposed to Saleh’s “unilateral decision-making” is acting now, whether its campaign is tied to the “4+4” agreement, and whether that deal can be carried out.

The agreement is seen as a possible route out of Libya’s political divide through a unified executive authority that would lead the country to elections within two years.

The lawmakers opposing Saleh say they will press on with efforts to “reform parliament and change its leadership.”

They say they were blocked from holding a session on the issue in the middle of last week when the chamber’s Benghazi headquarters was closed on its leadership’s orders.

Issam al-Jehani, a prominent member of the bloc, said its 86 lawmakers could meet in any Libyan city where they could carry out their duties.

Their aim was “neither a conspiracy nor an attempt to take Saleh’s seat,” he said, but reform in response to Saleh’s unilateral decisions and determination to stay in office.

Other political figures say the campaign could splinter and fade. Its momentum, they argue, depends on the balance of power in eastern Libya and on regional pressure.

Lawmaker Ali al-Takbali expects it to lose steam. He told Asharq Al-Awsat that a similar call in March for a session to change parliament’s rules came to nothing.

He also questioned whether Saleh’s opponents could keep enough lawmakers together to hold a session to remove him. They may unite over a grievance, al-Takbali said, but become harder to assemble once they return home, particularly if some reconsider their position because of personal interests or tribal ties.

Fellow lawmaker Montaser al-Hassi warned that some members’ actions could split parliament. Lawmakers have the right to amend its rules, he said, but must do so through legal channels.

Libya has long been divided between two governments: the interim Government of National Unity led by Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah in Tripoli, and Osama Hammad’s parliament-appointed government, which runs the east and some southern cities and is backed by Libyan National Army commander Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

Under the “4+4” agreement reached late last month by representatives of the Government of National Unity and the Libyan National Army under UN auspices, a new presidential council and unified government would prepare the country for general elections within two years.

Some observers and political figures say regional countries regard Saleh’s continued leadership as a safeguard against a split in the legislature, which they describe as the only institution to have remained intact through Libya’s institutional divisions.

Analyst Hossam Fnish linked the turmoil in parliament to the “4+4” deal. He said the reform bloc’s insistence on changing the rules before holding sessions would delay incorporating the agreement into Libya’s constitutional declaration, hindering a deal that could lead to elections and end the divide.

The UN mission, he said, prefers to incorporate the agreement through a constitutional amendment before seeking Security Council endorsement.

Fathi al-Shibli, head of the Voice of the People party, questioned the reform bloc’s motives. Complaints about Saleh making decisions alone and sessions going ahead without a quorum had circulated for years without drawing objections from lawmakers, he said.

That, in his view, lent weight to suspicions that the dispute was a struggle between blocs backed by powerful interests, rather than a drive for reform.

Al-Shibli expects Saleh to remain in office until the UN mission calls for a constituent council to replace parliament and the High Council of State to implement the “4+4” agreement. He said both bodies oppose a change to Libya’s political landscape.

Political analyst Mohammed Mahfouz likewise described the parliamentary dispute as a contest between powerful groups in eastern and western Libya, each seeking to show the international community that it can control the political scene.

Saleh’s hold on his position rests on two factors, Mahfouz told Asharq Al-Awsat: whether he and his allies can absorb the current anger, and whether regional and Western countries support him.

Saleh’s two deputies may help him contain the challenge, Mahfouz said, because they too could face replacement.