Cameroon Government Grants Financial Aid to 75 Citizens Repatriated from Tunisia

By Synthia Lateu [caption id="attachment_105712" align="alignnone" width="864"] The first contingent of the 181 distressed Cameroonians in Tunisia arrived at the Yaounde Nsimalen International Airport on April 6[/caption] BUEA, April 12, 2023 – The government has granted FCFA 65,000 to each of the 75 distressed Cameroonians who recently returned home from Tunisia to enable them to start an income-generating activity in the country. The first contingent of the 181 distressed Cameroonians in Tunisia arrived at the Yaounde Nsimalen International Airport on April 6. Aged 4, to 52, they were temporarily accommodated at a site in the capital city, Yaounde under government care while they awaited their families. Their return followed Cameroon’s Head of State's launch of voluntary repatriation of distressed compatriots in Tunisia. 75 out of 181 of them have been returned to the country. Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed had on February 21, 2023, called against the illegal immigration of sub-Saharan Africans to his country and claimed that their presence was a source of "violence, crimes, and unacceptable acts." [caption id="attachment_105713" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Migrants from Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, Guinea, and Ivory Coast according to Amnesty International, were attacked by mobs in Tunisia[/caption] “The undeclared goal of the successive waves of illegal immigration is to consider Tunisia a purely African country that has no affiliation to the Arab and Islamic nations,” Kaïs Saïed said and added that it was an “unnatural” situation and part of a criminal plan designed to “change the demographic make-up” and turn Tunisia into “just another African country that doesn’t belong to the Arab and Islamic nations anymore.'' This declaration from the 65-year-old escalated racism against the blacks in Tunisia. Migrants from Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, Guinea, and Ivory Coast according to Amnesty International, were attacked by mobs, and in at least three cases, the police were present but failed to intervene to stop the attacks or arrest the perpetrators. Amnesty International on March 10, 2023, condemned President Kaïs Saïed's speech stating: "The president must stop finding scapegoats for Tunisia's economic and political woes. The community of Black African migrants in Tunisia, is now gripped by fear of assault, or being arbitrarily arrested and summarily deported,” Amnesty International’s Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Heba Morayef said. “So far, the Tunisian authorities have sought to downplay these violent attacks and even deny them altogether. Authorities should prioritize the investigation of incidents of police violence against Black migrants, put an immediate end to forcible returns currently underway, and prevent any further racially motivated attacks by gangs or state agents,” Amnesty International added.