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TUNISIA
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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",...
Tunisia: Man stabs to death Brazil’s embassy guard in Tunis
An attacker fatally stabbed a security guard on Monday outside Brazil's embassy in Tunis before being shot and arrested, the Tunisian Interior Ministry said. The guard "was wounded by a sharp object" wielded "by a person he was questioning over the reason for his...
Tunisia: France to donate $28 million to Tunisia to buy equipment to counter migrant crossings
France announced on Monday nearly 26 million euros (around $28 million) in aid to Tunisia to help curb the flow of irregular migrants across the Mediterranean. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin (left in photo with Tunisian counterpart) announced the "bilateral...
Tunisia: Nejib Chebbi, leader of main opposition coalition, says president wants to destroy opposition
A key critic of Tunisian President Kais Saied called in for questioning over allegations of conspiracy against the state accused the president Friday of "criminalising" all opposition. Saied won a landslide victory in a 2019 presidential election but assumed sweeping...
Tunisia: EU considers aid to Tunisia to boost economy, reduce migrant flows
By Françoise Kadri: The European Union on Sunday said it is considering more than one billion euros in aid to boost crisis-hit Tunisia's economy and reduce the flow of irregular migrants across the Mediterranean Sea. The North African country, highly indebted and in...
Tunisia: Tunisia under pressure to accept IMF reforms
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Monday on Tunisia to agree to IMF reforms and avoid falling off an "economic cliff" after the European Union dangled a major aid package. Tunisian President Kais Saied has repeatedly refused "diktats" from the International...
Tunisia: Three jailed opposition leaders on hunger strike
Three leaders of Tunisia's once-dominant Ennahdha party are on a hunger strike to protest their detention under a crackdown against opponents of President Kais Saied, the party and a detainee's wife said Monday. One of them, Sahbi Atig, 64, a former leader of...
Tunisia: Army helicopter crashes at sea, killing four soldiers
Four Tunisian soldiers died when a military helicopter crashed into the sea off the country's northwest, President Kais Saied said Thursday, stressing the need "to renew military equipment". Offering his condolences to the bereaved families, the president said in a...
Migrant crisis: Italy wants IMF loan for Tunisia to shield self from migrant crisis
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Tuesday Rome backed efforts to secure an IMF bailout for Tunisia and support to tackle its growing migrant problem. She was speaking after talks in Tunis with President Kais Saied whose country is going through a dire...
Tunisia: Body of young girl found after migrant ships sink off the coast of Sfax
The Tunisian coastguard Friday recovered the body of a young girl thought to have drowned when two vessels carrying migrants sank in the Mediterranean, a journalist working with AFP said. The body, dressed in a pink jumpsuit and grey woollen cap, was discovered by a...
Tunisia’s president considering taxing the wealthy to prevent IMF meddling
Tunisia's President Kais Saied on Thursday proposed taxing the North African country's wealthiest citizens as a way of avoiding what he has called the "diktats" of the International Monetary Fund. Despite reaching an agreement in principle last October on a bailout...
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