Urgent fax campaign: Return of 36 Ivorian people expelled from Tunisia to the Libyan border

36 people of Ivorian origin were expelled from the town of Sfax in Tunisia to the desert behind the Libyan border. Alarme Phone Sahara is launching an urgent call to send faxes and make phone calls to the Ministry of Interior of Tunisia and to Tunisian Embassies and tell them to let the 36 Ivorian people return to Tunisia, to the town of Sfax where they had been arrested.

Here's the letter to fax:

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Ministry of interior : Mr Hichem Fourati

Avenue Habib Bourguiba, 1000 Tunis

Tél. : +216 71 347 929

Fax : + 216 71 347 929

Tunisian embassy Berlin, Germany:

Tel.: +49 30-36410710
Fax: +49 30-30820683
Email: at.berlin@tunesien.tn

Tunisian embassy Paris, France:

Tel.: +33 1 45 55 95 98

Email: at.paris@diplomatie.gov.tn

Tunisian embassy Vienna, Austria:

Tel.: +43 1 440.2144

Fax: +43 1 581 5592

Email: at.vienne@aon.at

Tunisian embassy The Hague, Netherlands:

Tel.: +31 70 351 22 51

Fax: +31 70 351 43 23

Email: at.lahaye@diplomatie.gov.tn ; ambassadetunisie@ziggo.nl

Subject: Deportation of 36 Ivorian persons to the Libyan border and to Libya

Dear Mr. Hichem Fourati,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Alarme Phone Sahara (APS) learned with great indignation about the situation of 36 people detained in Tunisia in the city of Sfax on 3rd of August 2019. The information we have indicates that these persons are all Ivorian nationals. They would be forced to leave Tunisia for Libya in the form of deportation. According to our information, they were brought to Médenine in the south of the country and then to the desert behind the Libyan border.

We would like to remind the international public that such acts of refoulement are illegal according to international conventions also signed by Tunisia.

APS therefore calls on the Tunisian authorities to provide all information on the places where these people are being held. At the same time, we require to let these people return to Tunisia since they are currently at the border in the desert with all the risks that would entail in terms of human dignity.

In addition, APS protests against all forms of discrimination and calls on the Tunisian authorities to respect universal human rights without any delay.

Finally, APS requests the return of the 36 Ivorians to the city of Sfax to where they were arrested before their deportation to the Tunisian border for unsolved reasons.

With friendly regards,

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