Tunis/Tunisia — The solution to the migration situation "can only be humane, collective and based on legal criteria", said President Kais Saied during an unannounced visit to the governorate of Sfax on Saturday. He added that "the solution should not be at the expense of the Tunisian state".
In a video released by the presidency, the President of the Republic also said that "Tunisia will not play the role of guardian for other countries", stressing the great responsibility of preserving the state and its sovereignty.
At the beginning of his visit to Sfax, the head of state went to the Bab Jebli in the old city of Sfax, where he was briefed on the situation of a number of irregular migrants from sub-Saharan African countries, TAP's correspondent reported.
During his meeting with a number of regional officials at the Sfax governorate headquarters, Saied stressed that he would not accept any migrant being treated inhumanely in Tunisia.
Migrants are victims of a global system that treats them not as human beings but as numbers. They are victims of poverty, civil war and the absence of the state, He pointed out.
The President called on those who demand the application of the law in the northern Mediterranean to demand the application of the law in the south and to respect Tunisian laws and sovereignty, pointing out that Tunisia is a country that has its own laws and respects laws and human lives.
Saied questioned the number of immigrants arriving in Tunisia, saying "the statistics related to them are wrong, given the large numbers that head, in particular, to the governorate of Sfax.»
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He noted that the situation of these migrants is inhumane through what he saw during his visit to the city.
He called for humane treatment of them and "providing lessons in humanity to those who have no humanity" among human and organ trafficking networks, recalling the exploits of Tunisian youth who provided assistance for migrants during the "COVID-19" pandemic.
Saied added that the Tunisian state protects migrants and does not allow them to be attacked, provided that they comply with Tunisian law and are in legal conditions.
He stressed the commitment to meet the challenge regarding the issue of immigrants, in addition to challenges related to the deteriorating economic and social conditions.
President Saied considered that the Tunisian state, with its institutions, people, and large human resources, is capable of making history by relying on its own capabilities, and not on any outside party, stressing the need to achieve social justice and impose the law on everyone.
