Black migrant speaks out against racial discrimination
(8 May 2018) LEADIN:
Sub-Saharan Africans in Tunisia complain of racial discrimination and a lack of legal protection.
A new law has been proposed, but some migrants say they would still not report racist incidents due fears over their residency status.
STORYLINE:
Koka Darius - also known as Saif - is hard at work in a cafe in Ariana.
He came to Tunisia as a student in 2012 and his dark skin makes him stand out from the local population.
He's from the Republic of Congo and sub-Saharan Africans like him complain of racial discrimination because of the colour of their skin.
"I know a girl from my friends who told me what happened to her. She works as a housekeeper at a Tunisian family where they called her a 'Black' or a 'Gira Gira'," says Saif.
"She was forced to remain silent because she had to work to secure her financial needs, her family and her future. She stayed with them for about six months and then ran away."
But racial discrimination is not often discussed in Tunisian society.
Politicians rarely address the issue and the media pays it little attention.
But there are worries that it is putting off sub-Saharan migrants from coming to study here.
According to figures from Ministry of Education, the number of students from the region fell from 12,000 in 2012 to 7,000 in 2017. The Association of African Studies in Tunisia puts the figure even lower - 4,000 for 2016/2017.
There are calls to introduce new laws to protect people from discrimation.
Bur Saif says he would still not report an incident.
"Even if there is a law that protects us from racial discrimination, they will not all go to the security centres to file a complaint against a racist incident because we have a problem with the residence permit," he says.
"Let's assume that I will file a complaint against a Tunisian. What if my security guard asked me for my identity and residence?"
Residency permits are valid for three months at a time before they must be renewed.
Delays in issuing them can put foreigners at risk of arrest.
There are organisations who try to help victims of racial attacks.
Yamina Thabet is President of the Tunisian Minority Support Association. They have recorded numerous incidents of racial discrimination, though no reliable official statistics are available.
"We found ourselves confronted by legal gaps, the most important of which is the absence of a law that protects against racist aggression, while there is a law against physical assault because racism is not recognised as criminal in Tunisia," she says.
A draft law is under consideration. It is still the subject of ministerial discussion but Thabet is pushing for its implementation.
"We will work to ensure the application of this new law as well as awareness and cultural work," she says.
"It is a long-term programme that we will work on in the future. It will take a long time to work on raising children to respect others through government study programmes."
The bill has not yet been submitted for approval by the People's Assembly.
But Mehdi Ben Gharbia, Tunisia's minister in charge of constitutional authorities, the civil society and human rights, explains the protection the givernment has proposed.
"The law contained mechanisms developed by the state to protect victims physically and psychologically, with simplified litigation procedures and expedited filing periods," he says.
He sees the new law as a reflection of how far Tunisia's democracy has come since the 2011 revolution.
But it's not in place yet and black people in Tunisia are still without legal protection.
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