Sudanese Displaced By Conflict Swell Ranks of Migrants From Sub-Saharan Africa Stranded on Libya-Tunisia Border

SEVERAL hundred African migrants and asylum seekers, including children, are stranded in a remote, militarised buffer zone at the Tunisia-Libya border, where they have been denied assistance or legal protection.

In this arid landscape, a humanitarian crisis is fast unfolding, as these people, fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries, including Sudan, have found themselves trapped in limbo, unable to enter Libya or return to Tunisia.

Videos posted online in recent days show hundreds of stranded adults and children without access to food, water, shelter, or medical assistance, as UN agencies have been denied access to the site to distribute aid.

Many of the migrants were apprehended in police raids in Tunisia’s port city of Sfax, southeast of the capital Tunis, and transported by the national guard and military over a distance of 300 kilometres to Ben Guerdane, and subsequently taken to the border with Libya.

Tensions had been rising in Sfax for several months, with residents calling for the expulsion of those arriving from trouble spots elsewhere on the African continent, resulting in a rash of attacks and clashes between locals and these new arrivals.

According to the UN, in addition to the more than 2.2 million internally displaced persons in Sudan, nearly 700,000 more have fled to neighboring countries. In a bid to reach Europe, some of them have made their way northwest to Libya and Tunisia.

“I came to Tunisia seeking safety, but instead, I found myself facing violence and hostility,” Muhammad Ahmad Yaqoub, a 25-year-old Sudanese man, who escaped Sfax shortly before the raids began, told Arab News.

A survivor of the Darfur conflict, Yaqoub embarked on a perilous journey last year, facing persecution in his native Al-Fashir at the hands of local militias, who he says killed members of his family.

Escaping the horrors of Sudan, he travelled through Chad, only to find himself ensnared in Libya’s ongoing instability, where he says he was abducted by a local armed group. With the help of a friend, Yaqoub says he was rescued from captivity.

Tunisia, with its proximity to Europe, became his next destination. However, the reception was far from welcoming. Instead of finding refuge and support, Yaqoub and many other displaced Sudanese have faced the constant threat of expulsion.

He says he has so far received no help from international aid agencies and now sleeps on the street in front of the UN office in Tunis.

Madibo Ismail, a 22-year-old Sudanese national, has also found himself stuck in Tunisia after fleeing the horrors of war. With dreams of a better life in Europe, he is awaiting a suitable opportunity to cross the treacherous sea by boat, despite the known risks.