The Gambia has announced that it had repatriated nearly 300 of its nationals who were intercepted on the exile route at the end of June and beginning of July. More than half of them were stranded in Libya.
Between the 21st of June and the 4th of July, Banjul repatriated 140 Gambians who were intercepted by Senegal, Mauritania, and Morocco. These individuals were on three boats carrying migrants from West Africa, as stated by a spokesperson from the Gambian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The ministry confirmed that a total of 231 Gambians were on the boats, but some managed to flee before they could be repatriated.
In addition, 156 Gambians were evacuated on 24th June from Libya, where they had been stranded.
In Tunisia, according to eyewitness accounts gathered by AFP, hundreds of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa find themselves in a very precarious situation in a desert area in the south of the country, close to the Libyan border. They were expelled from the town of Sfax in recent days due to tensions with the local population, who demanded their departure.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Tunisia of relocating the migrants to the desert area since 2nd July.
The Gambian ministry stated that they are working hard to authenticate the numbers and nationalities of the migrants in Tunisia, considering the disturbing videos circulating on social networks. This is part of the evacuation procedures.
Earlier this year, several West African countries, including Burkina Faso, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, and Senegal, repatriated hundreds of their nationals from Tunisia, which was the scene of racist attacks.
Tunisian President Kais Saied in February, blamed “hordes of illegal migrants from sub-Saharan Africa” for fueling crime and presenting them as a demographic threat. Tunisia has been hit by a socio-economic crisis that has worsened since Saied assumed full power in July 2021.