Tunisian migrant families hold a sit-in in front of Spanish embassy in Tunis

05 Septembre 2020

Tunis, Tunisia, September 5 (Infosplusgabon) - Several families of Tunisian migrants stranded in the Spanish enclave of Melilla on Friday staged a sit-in in front of the Spanish embassy in Tunis to draw the attention of the Spanish consular authorities and to denounce the silence of the Tunisian government on the deteriorated situation of their relatives.

Participants of the protest, supported by the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights, expressed fears that their children, held in a migrant detention centre in Mellilia, could contract the new coronavirus disease, which is widespread among migrants.

The sit-in was organised to sound the alarm about the health situation, ill treatment and racial discrimination suffered by more than 1,500 migrants at the centre, including 800 Tunisians, the Forum explained.

It called on the Spanish authorities to treat migrants with respect, in accordance with  provisions of International Conventions.

The Forum asked the authorities to stop discriminating Tunisian migrants by refusing to allow them, as they have done with other nationalities, to enter Spanish territory.

According to the NGO, by adopting such an attitude, the Spanish authorities want to blackmail Tunisian authorities into signing an agreement similar to the one initialled with Italy, which allows forceful  repatriation of thousands of illegal Tunisian migrants every year.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/JSX/GABON2020

© Copyright  Infosplusgabon