(Reuters) – Tunisia has repatriated about 10,000 irregular migrants so far this year, most of them from sub-Saharan African countries, Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali Nafti said on Tuesday, as the North African country faces pressure from the European Union to stem crossings across the Mediterranean.
Nafti told lawmakers that the repatriations were carried out through a voluntary return program coordinated with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), with weekly flights arranged to help migrants return home.
He said that Tunisia has reiterated to its European partners that “it will not become a transit zone.”
Tunisia repatriated about 7,200 migrants in 2024 under the same initiative, according to official data, and aims to continue returning the remaining migrants until “the phenomenon is eliminated,” it has said.
Tunisia is facing a migration crisis and thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa are living in tents in forests in southern Tunisian towns such as Amra and Jbeniana after authorities prevented them from crossing the Mediterranean to reach Europe.
As Tunisia has tightened security along its maritime borders, the number of migrants reaching Europe has dropped significantly this year.
