The Tunisian authorities returned illegal immigrants to detention centers in cooperation with the Tunisian Red Crescent after a journey from Sfax toward the southern area on the Libyan border.
The Head of the Tunisian Observatory for Human Rights, Mustafa Abdel Kabir, said the deported immigrants from Sfax were transferred from the border areas with Libya toward the cities of southern Tunisia, adding that they were sent to three centers, including a building rented by the International Organization for Migration, while the two others were university dorms.
Abdel Kabir confirmed in a press statement that "the Red Crescent carried out a field visit to the stranded immigrants at the borders, before deciding to send them to the cities," noting that the proposed solutions remain temporary.
He pointed out that the process of accepting immigrants into the southern cities wasn't met with hindrances, but the locals there "reject any project to create permanent camps for immigrants."
"There is a complete refusal to revive any project for camps for immigrants, similar to Al-Shusha camp, which was opened in 2011 after the Libyan revolution." He added.
Human Rights Watch strongly criticized the Tunisian authorities' transfer of immigrants and asylum seekers from sub-Saharan countries, including children and pregnant women, to a remote and military isolated area at the Tunisian-Libyan border, following the clashes in Sfax between immigrants and local residents.
