Around 20,000 migrants had set up tents in fields in the eastern regions of El Amra and Jebeniana (Fathi Belaid/AFP via Getty Images)
Tunisia on Friday dismantled camps housing thousands of undocumented migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, police said, following a campaign against them on social media.
Around 20,000 migrants had set up tents in fields in the eastern regions of El Amra and Jebeniana, national guard spokesman Houcem Eddine Jebabli told AFP.
He said around 4,000 people of various nationalities had left one of the camps cleared by authorities, and operations would continue over the coming days.
Some of the migrants had “dispersed into the countryside”, with pregnant women and the infirm taken care of by the health authorities, he added.
The camps had prompted anger from residents in nearby villages, raising pressure on the authorities.
Jebabli said locals had taken legal action over the occupation of their olive groves by the migrants.
“It was our duty to end all the disorder,” he said.
Tunisian President Kais Saied on March 25 called on the International Organization for Migration to accelerate voluntary returns for irregular migrants to their home countries.
Tunisia has in recent years become a key departure point in North Africa for migrants making the perilous Mediterranean Sea crossing in hopes of reaching Europe.
