MEDENINE, Tunisia: In the front row of a small classroom, three women, all different nationalities, avidly learn French in southern Tunisia’s stifling summer heat — grateful for support from an umbrella of charities.
Based in the city of Medenine, it’s a rare locally driven opportunity for migrants to better themselves and integrate, in a wider North Africa region that is often far from welcoming.
And despite Tunisia’s own biting economic crisis and the rampant poverty in its under-developed south, local associations have banded together to offer the less fortunate support.
Awa, from Ivory Coast, speaks good French, but wants to learn to read and write in the language.
“I never went to school,” she said, her baby on her knee. “If you cannot read or write, it is as if you live in the dark — you cannot do anything.”
Banished by her family for refusing to marry, she traveled to war-torn Libya in the hope of crossing the Mediterranean to Europe, but was prevented from taking to the sea and detained.
“I was pregnant, and due to give birth,” Awa said, adding that she was told Tunisia “was welcoming because it is not in a state of war.”
That advice brought her to Medenine, where she attends a day center run by the Organization for the Support of Migrants, an initiative by eight Tunisian medical outfits that offers support to mainly female migrants.
“I was welcomed... I am very happy,” Awa added.
Fellow Ivorian Bintou has discovered an inner confidence thanks to sewing lessons offered at the day center.
“I have already sewn beautiful dresses — it’s a job that fascinates me,” she said.
“It inspires me,” she added, noting that she’d wanted to be a tailor even before she left her home country.
Like Awa, Bintou arrived in Tunisia in July last year.
Both are tempted to stay, largely because, as Bintou puts it, “it is peaceful,” even if she sometimes suffers street harassment and racism.
Over the last decade, the number of migrants of sub-Saharan origin arriving in Tunisia has swelled substantially.
They range from foreign workers displaced from Libya --- a country mired in chaos since the 2011 fall of dictator Muammar Qaddafi — to asylum seekers and new immigrants looking for work in Tunisia.
In the last six months alone, 1,000 people who embarked from Libya to Europe have been picked up in Mediterranean waters by Tunisian vessels and ended up in the country, according to the International Organization for Migration.
The danger of that crossing was brought into sharp focus again this weekend, when over 60 migrants disappeared or died as two boats sank in less than 72 hours off Tunisia.
With the country mired in an economic crisis that leaves it unable to meet the needs of its own citizens, migrants are low on the list of political priorities.
Two reception centers managed by UN agencies were established in Medenine in 2014 and 2015, but were quickly overwhelmed.
These limitations prompted the Organization for the Support of Migrants to form and kick into action.
“We felt that things were wrong — we saw migrants begging in the street,” explained Abdallah Said, a Tunisian of Chadian origin whose work as a civil servant in Medenine involves collaboration with the umbrella group.
The organization advises day center attendees on their options and provides them “with time to think about what they want to do” next, Said explained.
“That’s why they feel comfortable.”
The initiative also brings the migrants into contact with Tunisian women.
In the small classroom hosting the French class, Tunisian citizen Fatma hopes to learn French in order to join her brother in France.
The West African migrants help her develop her skills.
“I teach them Arabic and they teach us French,” she said.
The initiative has had some help from the authorities — Medenine municipality provided a building for it to use as its headquarters.
But the area is severely economically deprived, suffering an unemployment rate of nearly 20 percent, and cannot do more, according to municipal mayor Moncef Ben Yemma.
“I don’t even have the funds to build roads,” he lamented.
While there is an inclination to help migrants at the local level, there is resistance at the national level.
Tunisia tolerates irregular migrants, but it is very difficult for such foreign African nationals to legitimize their immigration status.
And Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi has rejected calls by the European Union and others to establish reception centers.
“Tunisia will not be a land of asylum,” he declared in May this year.
Migrants welcomed in Tunisia’s impoverished south
https://arab.news/z58tw
Migrants welcomed in Tunisia’s impoverished south
- Local associations have banded together to offer the less fortunate support
- In the last six months alone, 1,000 people who embarked from Libya to Europe have been picked up in Mediterranean waters by Tunisian vessels
Great expectations: Yemenis look forward to outcomes of Riyadh dialogue
- Southern factions look to Saudi-hosted talks to defuse tensions after December’s violent escalation
- Analysts say Riyadh dialogue could help reset the southern cause — but only if militias are excluded
RIYADH: Last December marked a troubled end to the year in Yemen, particularly in its southern and eastern governorates. While much of the world marked the season with hopes for peace and stability, developments on the ground took a sharply different turn.
The Southern Transitional Council (STC), led by Aidarous Al-Zubaidi, moved to seize control of state institutions and military camps, defying expectations in Hadramout and Al-Mahra and mounting a direct challenge to the internationally recognized government.
These actions, carried out through armed force and supported by external actors, led to casualties and an escalation of tensions in both governorates.
In response, Yemen’s political leadership appealed to the Saudi-led coalition to contain the situation, called for the withdrawal of Emirati forces, and initiated operations to reassert control over military headquarters in Hadramout and Al-Mahra.
Subsequently, Rashad Mohammed Al-Alimi, chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, asked Saudi Arabia to host a conference in Riyadh, bringing together all southern factions to discuss solutions — a request accepted by the Saudi leadership.
The initiative comes amid the Kingdom’s affirmation of the legitimacy of the southern cause, coupled with its clear rejection of any solution imposed by force.
Arab News surveyed the views of several Yemeni politicians and analysts on their expectations for the conference, convened at a critical and highly sensitive juncture, and on the key issues anticipated to dominate the dialogue.
Among them was Salah Batis, a member of the Yemeni Shura Council, a member of the Preparatory Committee for the Unified Council of the Eastern Governorates, and a prominent figure in Hadramout.
“We extend our sincere gratitude to our brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia — both leadership and people — for their steadfast support, assistance, and courageous stand alongside the people of Hadramout and the eastern governorates in particular, and Yemen as a whole,” Batis told Arab News.
“Without this support, and without the role of the Saudi Air Force, this victory would not have been achieved, security would not have been restored, and this militia would not have been removed from these sensitive areas, especially Hadramout and the eastern governorates.
“We also express our appreciation to the political leadership, represented by the chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, Dr. Rashad Al-Alimi, and to the governor of Hadramout and commander of the Homeland Shield Forces, Salem Al-Khanbashi.
“Our gratitude further extends to the heroes of the Homeland Shield Forces, the armed forces, and the security forces who participated in the operation to take control of the camps. It was a swift and decisive operation, carried out at minimal cost, praise be to God.”
However, Batis said he opposes the inclusion of the STC in the upcoming Riyadh conference, citing its involvement in the killing and terrorizing of civilians in Hadramout and Al-Mahra.
He described the call for dialogue as “a positive step toward preserving the southern cause, which the STC had sought to hijack and undermine, nearly causing severe damage had it not been for swift and decisive intervention.”
Batis said the southern cause must represent all southerners without exception, and that no single party should monopolize it or claim exclusive representation. He said the STC had already harmed the cause by using armed violence to advance its agenda, resulting in killings.
For this reason, he said, the people of Hadramout — where many of these violations occurred — have demanded, and continue to demand, accountability for those responsible and their exclusion from the dialogue.
He accused the STC of mobilizing armed forces, invading governorates, killing tribesmen, attacking villages and civilians, storming and looting state camps, and destroying public institutions, including airports, ports, oil facilities, and government offices in Seiyun, Mukalla, and other locations.
Batis said the STC and its leadership bear full responsibility, arguing they had led and directed the armed groups toward Hadramout under the banner of southern forces.
He questioned how the people of Hadramout and the eastern governorates could accept belonging to such a region after what had occurred, noting that these forces operated under a declared leadership and a self-proclaimed supreme commander.
Batis said local communities viewed them as invading forces that killed civilians, shed blood, attacked state institutions, and seized military camps.
He added that, were it not for the decisive intervention of allied forces and local authorities — leading to the return of the camps, the repair of the damage, and the withdrawal of these militias to their original positions — the consequences would have been far more severe.
“I believe this dialogue and conference must have a clear and firm framework: no group that possesses weapons, militias, or armed forces should take part,” Batis said.
“Arms must be exclusively in the hands of the state, under the authority of the ministries of defense and interior, and sovereignty must rest solely with the state — not with parties, factions, or individuals.”
Batis warned against repeating what he described as the mistake of 2013, when the Houthi group was allowed to participate in the National Dialogue Conference while still armed and expanding its territorial control.
He recalled that by January 2014 the Houthis had seized Amran Governorate and laid siege to Sanaa, halting the drafting of the federal constitution and forcing meetings to be held at the Presidential Palace.
Batis noted that he was serving at the time as vice president of the National Authority tasked with monitoring the implementation of the dialogue’s outcomes, before the Houthis later stormed the capital and plunged the country into a crisis that continues to this day.
For his part, political analyst and activist Youssef Ismail Abdo said that any fair and equitable outcomes from the conference would help stabilize the south — particularly Hadramawt and the eastern governorates — fostering security, development, and stability, with positive implications for all of Yemen and the wider region.
Also speaking to Arab News, Dr. Nasser bin Habtour, secretary-general of the Shabwa National Council, said that “the south is home to multiple political projects, including secession and a federal state.
“The events of December demonstrated that not all southerners support secession, leaving the STC isolated in its unilateral move. In my opinion, all political options should be placed on the dialogue table so that southerners can discuss them and reach a unified vision.”
He argued that “secession is neither feasible nor appropriate at the present stage, given Yemen’s dire circumstances, with the Houthi militia controlling Sanaa and state institutions and posing a serious threat to Yemen and the wider region.”
He stressed that “restoring the Yemeni state must come first, after which all political projects can be presented to the people, who should then decide the future form of the state.”
He added: “The meeting, to be held in Riyadh, came at the request of southern political and social figures and groups who convened after recognizing both their responsibility and the danger into which the STC had placed the southern cause.
“They contacted the chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, urging him to ask the Kingdom to host a southern dialogue conference.” He noted that “this initiative was consistent with Saudi Arabia’s longstanding role in supporting Yemen.”
“The conference must focus on repairing the damage inflicted on the southern cause by the STC’s unilateral decisions and attempts to monopolize it, as well as restoring the issue to its proper course through a consensual vision shared by the people of the south.”
Regarding the expected outcomes of the comprehensive southern national dialogue, Habtour said: “The first priority is reaching consensus on a unified southern vision that reflects the aspirations of the people of the south.”
He added: “The southern issue must be situated within the broader national struggle to restore the state from the Houthi militia, as well as integrated into the negotiation process aimed at restoring security and stability in Yemen.”
He further stressed “the importance of defining the role of southerners in the upcoming phase, particularly within the framework of a future federal state and their contribution to nation-building and development.”
