Tunisian president seeks to reassure 'legal' migrants

Tunisian President Kais Saied called for his government to take care of "legal" migrants from sub-Saharan Africa while doubling down on controversial remarks that illegal immigration was causing "demographic" change.

"People who are legally in Tunisia should be reassured," Saied said during a meeting with Interior Minister Taoufik Charfeddine on the security situation in the country.

Saied called on state officials to "look after our brothers from sub-Saharan Africa who are in a legal situation", according to a video published on the official presidency website.

But he stressed that "there is no question of allowing anyone in an illegal situation to stay in Tunisia".

"I will not allow the institutions of the state to be undermined or the demographic composition of Tunisia to be changed," he added.

Tunisian rights groups accused the president of hate speech after he said a day earlier that "hordes" of sub-Saharan African migrants were causing crime and posed a "demographic" threat.

Saied, who has seized almost total power since a dramatic July 2021 move against parliament, had urged his national security council to take "urgent measures" to tackle irregular migration.

Some Tunisians took to social media to accuse the president of outright racism and invoking right-wing conspiracy theories.

Advocacy group the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights said Saied's discourse was "drowning in racism and hatred".