La Tunisie entre transit et immigration : politiques migratoires et conditions d'accueil des migrants africains à Tunis

Abstract

To cite this version:Hassen

Tunisia’s migration politics throughout the 2011 revolution: revisiting the democratisation–migrant rights nexus

“…In contrast to emigration, immigration to Tunisia has remained rather low after independence, dominated by Algerian and Palestinian refugees and Moroccan labour migrants from the 1960s to the 1980s. Since the mushrooming of private universities in the late 1990s and the relocation of the African Development Bank from Ivory Coast to Tunis in 2003, Tunisia also experienced growing migration from sub-Saharan Africa for studies, labour and refuge (Boubakri and Mazzella 2005;Cassarini 2020). As in many North African countries, immigration regulations under Bourguiba and Ben Ali combined securitisation -characterised by sanctions for irregular stay and work, arbitrary detentions and expulsions -with a welcoming discourse for a select group of immigrants such as investors and foreign competences (Natter 2019;Perrin 2009).…”

“…In this vein, the 2004 law not only served Ben Ali's regime in responding to European demands and consolidating his international legitimacy; it was also a tool for the authoritarian state apparatus to increase surveillance of Tunisian society (Geisser 2019;Meddeb 2012). Despite this securitised grip on migration, some human rights associations tacitly began to mobilise on migration in the mid-2000s, such as the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (Association Tunisienne des Femmes Démocrates, ATFD), the Tunisian League of Human Rights (Ligue Tunisienne des Droits de l'Homme, LTDH) and the Tunisian Forum of Socio-Economic Rights (Forum Tunisien pour les Droits Economiques et Sociaux, FTDES) (Bel Hadj Zekri 2009;Boubakri and Mazzella 2005). Yet migration became truly politicised in the public sphere only in the aftermath of the 2011 revolution.…”

Transit migration : a piece of the complex mobility puzzle. The case of Senegalese migration

“…Furthermore those studies mostly concentrated on the routes employed on their way to Europe (van Moppes, 2006 ;de Haas, 2006 ;Nyberg Sørensen, 2006), or on some of their segments (Brachet, 2009). Other studies, finally, looked at transit hubs, where significant concentrations of migrants, stuck at the borders of the Southern Mediterranean countries, are waiting to carry on their way to Europe (Pian, 2005 ;Choplin Lombard, 2009 ;Ba, Choplin, 2006 ;Drodz, Pliez, 2006 ;Boubakri, Mazzella, 2006 ; among others). However, they notably fail to explore the onward movements once migrants have arrived in Europe or to follow circulations and permanent returns to origin countries.…”

“…In this case, migration intentions do not match actual moves and lead to a second-best option of staying in other African countries or resettlement in the country of origin. Several studies have recently explored (Pian, 2009 ;Ba, Choplin 2006 ;Brachet, 2009 ;Spiga, 2006 ;Boubakri, Mazzella, 2006 ; among others) Sub-Saharan migrant populations "stuck" in Mediterranean or other African countries, who end up working and staying in Saharan migration hubs along the way without ever reaching the desired destination.…”

Sahara transit: times, spaces, people

“…In these conditions, researchers generally explore the issues of spatial, social or identity reconstruction resulting from longer and longer passages stops in transit zones. They posit that migration does not only have negative impacts on host states (Pliez, 2004; Ba and Choplin, 2005; Boubakri and Mazzella, 2005; Bredeloup and Pliez, 2005; Spiga, 2005; Bredeloup and Pliez, 2006; de Haas, 2008), but also contributes to the development of Saharan towns.…”