Tunisian rights groups accused on Wednesday President Kais Saied of racism and hate speech after he said "hordes" of sub-Saharan African migrants were causing crime and posed a demographic threat.
A statement from his office, decrying "a criminal plot... to change Tunisia's demographic make-up" without citing any evidence, has sparked an outcry online.
"Hordes of illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa are still arriving, with all the violence, crime and unacceptable practices that entails," Saied told his national security council on Tuesday evening, according to the statement.
Some Tunisians have taken to social media to accuse the president of outright racism and invoking right-wing conspiracy theories.
Advocacy group the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) said Wednesday Saied's discourse was "drowning in racism and hatred".
"The president is using the migration crisis... to distract attention from economic and social problems," spokesman Romdhane Ben Amor told AFP.
More than 21,000 sub-Saharan Africans live in Tunisia, including those with student visas and other legal residency, the FTDES says, citing official figures.
Many irregular migrants from the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Ghana and Guinea work badly paid, unofficial jobs to get by and save up for attempts to reach Italy.
Ben Amor said Saied's latest comments showed he had "obviously and totally caved in to pressure from the Italian authorities to stop the flow of migrants" towards European shores.
Tunisian anti-racism group Mnemty said it "condemns this racist discourse, which incites hatred and aggression, enmity and violence against black sub-Saharan African migrants".
In a joint statement, a coalition of 18 rights groups expressed their "complete and unconditional solidarity with sub-Saharan immigrants and their defenders".
Mostafa Abdelkebir, president of the Tunisian Observatory of Human Rights, said on Facebook the president's rhetoric does not represent the country "at all".
