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North African governments struggling with migrant crisis
Tunisia and Libya announced Thursday they had agreed to share responsibility for providing shelter for hundreds of migrants stranded at their border, many of them for over a month. The migrants, primarily from sub-Saharan African countries, had been driven to the...
Migration Crisis: Latest News
Four dead, 51 missing in shipwreck off Tunisia At least 11 migrants have died in a shipwreck off Tunisia's coast and 44 others are missing, a judicial sources said Monday, revising an earlier toll of four fatalities. "Seven new bodies have been recovered on Sunday...
Migrants: Ten dead migrants wash ashore in Tunisia
The bodies of 10 migrants have been found on a beach in Tunisia, near the city of Sfax which has seen a spike this year in Europe-bound sea crossings, authorities said Sunday. Tunisia has become a major gateway for irregular migrants and asylum seekers primarily from...
Tunisian brand turns sea plastic into green couture
By Francoise Kadri: The two men in bright overalls rooting for plastic on a Tunisian beach do so to make a living, but also in the knowledge that they are helping the environment. What they do not know is that the waste will become part of a synthetic plastic fibre...
Tunisia’s difficult road ahead
By Françoise Kadri: Tunisian President Kais Saied fired his prime minister Najla Bouden without explanation late Tuesday. Why did he do this, and what are the implications for the debt-ridden North African country? Why was Najla Bouden sacked? Media reports say Saied...
Tunisia: President fires Prime Minister amid a worsening domestic economy
By Françoise Kadri: Tunisian President Kais Saied sacked Prime Minister Najla Bouden without explanation Tuesday night and replaced her with former central bank executive Ahmed Hachani, whom he tasked with overcoming the "colossal challenges" facing the cash-strapped...
Anti-migrant sentiment in North Africa turns into humanitarian disaster
In the unbearable midday heat, a Libyan patrol near the border with Tunisia comes across a black African man collapsed on the reddish-brown desert sand. He is barely breathing, and officers try to revive him, gently, with a few drops of water on his lips. The man is...
Tunisia: Panic in Europe over Tunisia’s potential economic collapse
By Francoise Kadri: Western nations fear an economic collapse in Tunisia could trigger even greater migrant flows to Europe and have offered financial assistance. Yet prospects of Tunisia's sealing the biggest deal of all -- a $1.9-billion bailout from the...
Tunisia: Saudi Arabia offers soft loan and grant to financially-troubled Tunisia
Saudi Arabia on Thursday said it will give Tunisia financial assistance valued at $500 million, including a $100 million grant, as the North African country grapples with crippling inflation and debt. The announcement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency...
Tunisia: Major blaze erupts on Tunisia-Algeria border, as temperatures soar to 47C
Firefighters in Tunisia are battling a major blaze that has raged for two days in a pine forest near the border with Algeria, a civil defence official said on Thursday. Regional civil defence director Abdel Laabidi told AFP that around 470 hectares (1,100 acres) of...
Tunisia and EU negotiate anti-migration strategy ($)
The European Union wants Tunisia to do more to stem the influx of undocumented migrants into Europe. And Europe has the money that Tunisia needs. Tunisia, along with Libya, serves as the primary departure point for migrants crossing the central Mediterranean to reach Europe, in particular the southern islands and regions of Italy, such as Lampedusa.
Migrants: Appalling treatment of migrants by North African governments continues
By Aymen Jamli and Francoise Kadri: The bodies of two migrants have been found in a desert region near Tunisia's border with Algeria, a judicial official and a witness said on Tuesday. Hundreds of migrants from sub-Saharan countries have fled or been forced out of...
Tunisia: Witnesses report abusive acts against migrants
Hundreds of African migrants were stranded in dire conditions in a desert area of southern Tunisia on Thursday after being expelled from the port city of Sfax, witnesses told AFP. Racial tensions flared this week into violence targeting migrants from sub-Saharan...
Egyptian national executed in Saudi Arabia for ‘terrorism’
Saudi Arabia on Monday put to death five people convicted of carrying out a deadly attack on a house of worship, state media said, the biggest group execution this year. The five men -- four Saudis and one Egyptian national -- were tried for an attack that killed five...
Tunisia: Racial tension spikes in Sfax as Sub-Saharan migrants targeted
Racial tensions in the Tunisian coastal city of Sfax flared into violence targeting migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, dozens of whom were forcibly evicted from the city or fled, witnesses said Wednesday. Amid the disturbances late Tuesday, police detained some...
Tunisian stabbed to death in clash with African migrants
Youths in Tunisia called for vengeance on Tuesday at the funeral of a man stabbed to death during a scuffle between residents and migrants from sub-Saharan Africa. Three African migrants were arrested as suspects in the stabbing death of the local man in Tunisia's...
Migrations: EU on overdrive to get deal with Tunisia to prevent migrations
By Marc Burleigh: EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday are to look at ways to press aid on Tunisia in a bid to stem migrant boat departures for Europe. The discussion will come two weeks after a boat believed to have been carrying hundreds of migrants capsized...
Tunisia: Train derailment near Msaken kills two, injures 34
Two people were killed and 34 injured when an overnight passenger train careered off the tracks and overturned in eastern Tunisia on Wednesday, the state-owned SNCFT rail company said. The accident occurred shortly after midnight (2300 GMT) when a train operating...
Tunisia frees journalist held after criticising penal code
A Tunisian journalist arrested after criticising a law that criminalises insulting the head of state was released on Thursday, he said after leaving court. Zied El Heni, 59, was kept in custody after being questioned on Tuesday evening over alleged "crimes through...
Tunisia protesters demand ‘political’ prisoners’ freedom
Hundreds of supporters of Tunisia's main opposition coalition on Sunday rallied to demand freedom for about 20 detained personalities and opponents of President Kais Saied. Up to 300 protesters, many carrying photographs of what they called the "political prisoners",...
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