AU strongly condemns Tunisian president’s ‘shockingly racist’ statements

AA / Montreal / Hadem Katoo

The Commission of the African Union (AU), through its President Moussa Faki Mahamat, has “strongly” condemned Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed’s “shocking racist statements” against “fellow Africans”.

This is according to a press release issued by the commission on its website on Friday.

Moussa Faki Mahamat described these statements as “against the letter and spirit of our organization (AU) and our founding principles”.

According to the press release, Tunisia’s permanent representative accredited to the African Union was received by Commission Vice-President Monique Nsanchabaganwa, who “expressed the African Union’s serious concerns about the form and substance of the African Union. The statement targets fellow Africans despite their legal status in the country.

The head of the commission told member states of the African Union that they must “respect their obligations under international law and relevant instruments of the African Union, namely to treat all migrants with dignity, wherever they come from, and to avoid any hatred. Speech of a racist nature, which harms people and their security and their fundamental Prioritize rights.

In conclusion, the Commission noted the AU’s “commitment” to “support the Tunisian authorities in resolving migration issues in order to make migration safe, dignified and regular”.

For his part, the new Tunisian foreign minister, Nabil Ammar (in office since February 7), was “surprised to see what was published” on the matter, wondering about racism and hate speech: “Why is this speech, when it is made by countries other than Tunisia, and no one denies it, No one criticizes? “.

In a statement to Radio France Internationale on Saturday, the minister noted, “There was nothing unreasonable and unusual about the comments of President Kais Saeed, nothing hate speech.”

Nabil Ammar felt that there was “multiple manipulation” in the case.

“There are a lot of people who make money out of it, including journalism. So it could be individuals, it could be pressure groups, it could be mafia groups, but all these beautiful people are disturbed by the fact that their cruel trade needs to be put to an end, “the victims are the migrants,” he said.

During a National Security Council meeting on Tuesday, Kaïs Saïed spoke of “masses of unruly people and illegal immigrants” from the south with the aim of “changing the ethnic structure of Tunisia”.

This attitude provoked an outcry from civil society and large sections of the population in Tunisia, as well as from some African chancelleries established in Tunisia and from the African Union.

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