Tunisian authorities have charged six staff members of the Tunisian branch of the France Terre d’Asile aid group and 17 municipal workers from the eastern city of Sousse with sheltering migrants and facilitating “illegal entry and residence,” prosecutors said. If convicted, the defendants face up to 10 years in prison.
The case centers on humanitarian assistance provided to migrants in Tunisia, a key transit point for tens of thousands of people each year trying to reach Europe. Authorities gave no immediate public timeline for hearings; lawyers for some of the accused say the prosecutions follow prolonged police scrutiny and administrative pressure on NGOs operating in the country.
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Among the accused is Sherifa Riahi, the former head of Terre d’Asile Tunisie, who has been held in detention for more than 19 months, according to her lawyer. Riahi’s detention and the broader legal action have alarmed rights groups, aid agencies and diplomatic observers who say criminal charges risk criminalizing routine humanitarian work.
Amnesty International condemned the prosecutions as a “bogus criminal trial,” urging Tunisian authorities to drop the charges and release those detained. The organization said the accused were carrying out legitimate humanitarian activities — providing shelter, legal support and basic services to migrants — and warned that prosecutions could deter other actors from assisting vulnerable people.
Tensions over migration have risen in Tunisia since President Kais Saied’s 2023 remarks about “illegal migrants,” statements that rights groups say inflamed xenophobic sentiment. Those remarks were followed by a wave of racially motivated attacks and a surge of expulsions and evictions targeting thousands of sub-Saharan African migrants, who reported losing homes and jobs amid heightened hostility.
Government officials say they are enforcing migration laws and protecting public order; critics counter that enforcement has at times targeted humanitarian actors and communities that shelter migrants rather than addressing smuggling networks or root causes. International aid organizations have complained of shrinking operational space and increasing administrative obstacles in recent years.
Legal experts say the outcome of the cases in Sousse and Tunis will be closely watched by NGOs, European governments and human rights monitors. A conviction could set a precedent with broad implications for civil society groups providing services to migrants across North Africa, analysts say, potentially chilling assistance at a moment when migration flows remain high.
Meanwhile, migrants and local activists describe growing fear and uncertainty. “People need help,” one local advocate said in an account reviewed by the defense team; “criminalizing aid leaves vulnerable families with nowhere to turn.”
The prosecutions come as European states press Tunisia to curb departures across the Mediterranean and as debate continues over responsibility for asylum and migration management in the region.
By Newsroom
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
