In a joint statement issued last week, over 30 Tunisian NGOs asked to "open investigations to discover the truth and to prosecute the perpetrators of these violations."

"Over one year after the press release of the Tunisian presidency that linked the presence of migrants to a 'plot aimed at changing the demographic composition of Tunisia', systematic violations and racist and xenophobic campaigns against sub-Saharan migrants are continuing and are remaining unpunished in Tunisia", the organizations said.

A speech by President Saied last February sparked a wave of violence against Black migrants by alleging they threatened to transform "Arab-Muslim" Tunisia into an "African" country, DW reported. Last summer, thousands of non-Tunisian migrants were expelled to the desert near Libya, and more than 100 died.

In their statement the NGOs denounced that the "policies of subsequent governments have continued to respect the European Union's orders to externalize borders, thus delegating the entire management of border security and surveillance to southern Mediterranean countries."

Also read: Group of Tunisian NGOs call for respect of migrants' dignity

Arbitrary relocation and detention of migrants denounced

The NGOs went on to say that, "as well as intercepting migrants in national territorial waters, the Tunisian national maritime guard also chases them within the territory, in particular arbitrarily relocating them without taking into account their humanitarian situation nor the international agreements signed and ratified by Tunisia."

The organizations said this occurred in "different regions of the country in which security forces chose to push migrants towards areas near urban centers, in particular in El Aamra, El Jédériya, and Kasserine, where the situation is increasingly concerning and alarming," they continued.

The NGOs then asked authorities to clarify the legal framework justifying the detention of migrants, including at the El Ouardia center near the capital, which they said "operated without any legal backing or judicial control, in flagrant violation of Tunisian law and regulations and of international conventions ratified by Tunisia, as confirmed by a decision of the administrative court in 2020."

Also read: Tunisian president denies racism, repeats view that 'migration is a plot'

NGOs condemn externalization of EU policies

The organizations that signed the statement also said they condemned the European Union's "policies of security and externalization of borders that violate human rights" and urged the "Tunisian State to respect national and international law regarding people in the movement and reject any European outsourcing policy."

The NGOs included the National Tunisian Coalition Against the Death Penalty, the Tunisian Human Rights League, the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights, the Association Lina Ben Mhenni, EuroMed Rights, Watch The Med, Alarm Phone, the Association for Juridical Studies on Immigration.

Also read: How will migration affect Tunisia's 2024 election campaign?