Hundreds of migrants were abandoned in the desert, on the borders with Algeria and Libya, after being intercepted at sea by Tunisian forces on March 17, InfoMigrants has found. While this type of deportation has been common in Tunisia since the summer of 2023, the scale of this incident is particularly striking. Some sources report a total of 600 people being left at the same time in desert areas.
What happened during the night of Sunday, March 16 to Monday, March 17 in Sfax, in east-central Tunisia? That night, 612 sub-Saharan migrants were intercepted at sea by the Tunisian coast guard, the National Guard announced. Eighteen bodies were also recovered.
But since this large-scale operation, these people intercepted by the authorities cannot be found. "They haven't returned to the camp," Abdul*, a Sierra Leonean doctor who lives in the olive groves on the outskirts of Sfax, told InfoMigrants. The outskirts of Sfax is where thousands of sub-Saharan migrants have built makeshift shelters, after being driven from city centers by the Tunisian authorities in the summer of 2023, while waiting to cross the Mediterranean.
How can Abdul be so sure? "A group of 600 people disappearing into thin air doesn't go unnoticed here," he said. The man travels through the camps scattered throughout the region to treat sick or injured migrants.
Read AlsoNGO reports over 600 migrants deported to Tunisian desert
'There were five buses, all filled with Black people'
So, where are they? After several days of searching, InfoMigrants managed to contact some of these 612 sub-Saharan Africans. "We're in Tébessa [an Algerian city near the Tunisian border]," Lamine, a 26-year-old Gambian told InfoMigrants through a video call. "After picking us up at sea on the night of Sunday, March 16 to Monday, March 17, the Tunisian coast guard sent us into the desert," he explained.
"There were five buses, all filled with Black people," said Oumarou, a 31-year-old Sierra Leonean who was present with Lamine. According to their estimates, around 200 people were deported to the desert near Chambi National Park, about 30 kilometers from the Algerian border. The migrants, stripped of their belongings, were left in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night.
After four days of walking, about 60 of them reportedly found refuge in a house near Tébessa, run by a Sierra Leonean national who settled there after being deported from the region by Tunisian forces a year ago. Among this group of English-speaking migrants are women, some of them pregnant, and children. "Look at my face," Aminata*, a four-month pregnant Sierra Leonean woman, told us through a video call. "I'm exhausted, I'm in pain everywhere," she added, pointing to her feet, damaged by the long days of walking.
Several of these sub-Saharan Africans have injuries, said to have been caused by the mixture of salt water and gasoline in the boat. Oumarou showed a 13-year-old boy, looking exhausted, with wounds on his wrist. "They [the Tunisian police officers] put handcuffs on his injury, which made things worse," Lamine explained.
When migrants are sent to the desert, they are allegedly handcuffed by National Guard officers. Children are not usually handcuffed. Migrants also report violence committed by police officers on the deportation buses. "They beat us with sticks. Some were injured in the legs and arms," Oumarou said.
Read AlsoIn Tunisia, migrant women are highly vulnerable to sexual assault
'Large-scale deportation'
The Italian NGO Mediterranea Saving Human wrote in a statement published on March 20 that all 612 migrants intercepted during the night of March 16-17 were sent to the desert. "From our solidarity networks in Tunisia, we have confirmation of a large-scale pushback and deportation that took place from the port of Sfax, following 'rescue' operations at sea, carried out between Sunday, March 16 and Monday, March 17, for several people attempting to cross to Italy," the organization wrote. Mediterranea Saving Human reported that the operation "mobilized 11 buses."
InfoMigrants was unable to verify all of this information, particularly regarding the number of buses deployed.
Where are the other migrants intercepted at sea, if not in Tébessa? According to the English-speaking migrant group, people were also deported to the Libyan border and they say most of them were Sudanese.
When migrants are handed over to Libyan forces, they are usually transferred to the country's prisons. To get out, they must pay hundreds of euros. "We'll have more information in a few days, or even weeks, when they're released and get their phones back," Salif*, a Guinean who has been living in Tunisia for two years, said. The young man in his 20s also has no news of several of his friends intercepted at sea that fateful night of March 16-17.
Contacted by InfoMigrants, the Tunisian authorities stated that they "have no data" on this case. Neither does the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which "has no information or precise data on this subject."
Read AlsoTunisia's 'bad management of migration crisis' denounced by NGO
Partnership with the European Union
This type of expulsion is not uncommon in Tunisia, but this one is striking in its scale. Since the summer of 2023, sub-Saharan Africans have been regularly rounded up by Tunisian police in the street, intercepted at sea, and then sent in small groups to desert areas near the country's borders. People must then return on their own. InfoMigrants has received numerous testimonies from sub-Saharan Africans who were subjected to these illegal expulsions.
"Several times a week, we see buses packed with migrants heading towards the border at night," a resident of Tozeur (a Tunisian city located a few kilometers from Algeria) who prefers to remain anonymous told InfoMigrants.
In recent years, human rights organizations have consistently denounced the brutal methods used by Tunisian authorities against Black people in the country. They also accuse the European Union (EU) of complicity in these rights violations.
Under the leadership of Italy, the EU concluded a "partnership" with Tunisia in July 2023, providing 150 million euros in budgetary assistance and 105 million euros to help the country combat irregular immigration. This aid led to an increase in the interception of illegal boats in 2024 and contributed to a significant reduction in arrivals in Italy. Arrivals decreased 80 percent last year compared to 2023, with 19,246 arrivals from Tunisia.
*Names have been changed to protect their anonymity.