TUNIS, Tunisia — A whole bunch of protesters in Tunisia‘s capital took to the streets on Saturday to denounce racism and specific solidarity in the direction of migrants after the nation’s more and more authoritarian chief claimed there’s a plot to erase his nation’s identification by bringing in sub-Saharan Africans.

Folks shouting “no to racism,” “solidarity with migrants” and “no to police crackdown” marched via central Tunis as a part of the demonstration staged by Tunisia’s journalists union and a number of other nongovernmental organizations.

President Kais Saied stated earlier this week that “pressing measures” have been wanted to deal with the entry of irregular immigrants from sub-Saharan nations, “with their lot of violence, crimes and unacceptable practices.”

The spokesperson for the Tunisian Discussion board for Social and Financial Rights, Romdhane Ben Amor, deplored an growing variety of racist assaults in opposition to sub-Saharan migrants following Saied’s remarks.

“We famous makes an attempt to drive some migrants out of their properties,” he instructed The Related Press. “Others are being prevented from taking public transportation.”

Tunisian comic Fatma Saidane denounced “deplorable actions” focusing on some sub-Saharan individuals and known as on individuals to point out a civic-minded perspective.

“We should not assault or insult individuals who dwell on our soil, in the identical means we don’t settle for our compatriots to be ill-treated in Europe,” she stated.

In current days, about 100 sub-Saharan migrants have been detained for having illegally crossed the Tunisian border, in keeping with Riadh Nouioui, the deputy prosecutor of Kasserine, a mountainous area near Algeria. Different migrants enter the nation from neighbouring Libya.

Saied’s feedback raised a storm on social media and condemnation from NGOs. Tunisia, as soon as lauded as the one budding democracy within the Arab world, has not too long ago additionally seen a crackdown on opposition politicians and activists.