60% of irregular migrants reached Tunisia through land borders with Algeria (FTDES)

Tunis: Preliminary results of a field study, carried out by the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social rights (FTDES) on the situation of migrants in Tunisia on a sample of 379 migrants, showed that 60% of those polled arrived in Tunisia through land borders with Algeria. At a press conference held, Tuesday, on the presentation of the preliminary results of this study, official spokesperson for the FTDES, Romdhane Ben Amor, pointed out that 23% of the migrants polled said that they reached Tunisia through the land borders with Libya, adding that the borders with Algeria and Libya represent the main crossing points to Tunisia. He underscored that 44.9% of sub-Saharan migrants said that «they took migratory routes on foot compared to 9.8% who used means of transport to reach Tunisia.» The field study, which was conducted from March to May 2024 in Greater Tunis, Sfax and Zarzis, focused on a sample of 72% of men and 28% of women. It revealed that irregular migrants represent nearly 63%. 25% of them are asylum seekers. The migrants are from 23 African countries, including Sudan, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leoni and the Ivory Coast, the same source said. The field study took into account five key areas, namely "the routes and conditions of arrival", "the conditions of stay in Tunisia", "social relations with others", "interactions with public institutions and civil society activists.» The study reiterated that the reasons for migration are «political and economic ones,» adding that these migrants have fled repressive regimes (66%), climate change and violence, which represent the main incentives for irregular migration. According to Ben Amor, the survey also disclosed that 75.4% of the migrants polled were forced to change their homes several times to avoid police intervention, while over half of them lived in poor conditions (streets, parks…). Similarly, 77% of migrants said they had been victims of violence. Regarding access to healthcare services, 65.2% of the migrants said they went to pharmacies to buy medicine s, 56.5% use traditional treatment methods, while 24% went to hospitals and 7.9% went to private clinics. The final version of this field study will be published next September or October. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse