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Rabat – A new survey by BBC Arabic found that 80% of people in Tunisia believe that racial discrimination is a prevailing feature of life in the North African country.
The number represents the highest figure in the Middle East and North Africa, according to the BBC.
MP Jamila Ksiksi was among the public figures in Tunisia who testified against racial discrimination in her country.
Being the first female MP of color in her country, Ksiksi said she has been receiving complaints and letters from citizens, “especially from black people,” on racial discrimination.
President Kais Saeid dissolved the Tunisian assembly in March, claiming that the move aimed to preserve the state and its institutions. The president’s decision to dissolve the parliament followed MPs’ vote against his “exceptional measures.”
Ksiksi was one of the MPs who criticized President Kais Saeid for his decision to dissolve the parliament, saying the institution played a central role in communicating people’s concerns.
“There is no entity to help push or to ask for the reasons behind the delays. Dissolving the parliament is a huge obstacle for people to get their rights,” Ksiksi told the BBC.
Amal Hamrouni, a Tunisian politician and outspoken supporter of the president, denied that her country has stopped its fight against racial discrimination.
In comments to the BBC, the politician spoke in defense of President Saied’s decision to dissolve the parliament, arguing that “the legislative bloc was not doing its job.”
As the parliament “was mired in internal struggles” Hamrouni told the BBC, “it was right of the president to suspend it.”
While Tunisia’s constitution prohibits all forms and acts of racial discrimination, dark-skinned Tunisians and Sub-Saharan migrants living in the country insist that racial discrimination is a rampant, normal phenomenon in Tunisia.
In April, a group of migrants and refugees carried out sit-ins in front of the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Tunis demanding their evacuation from Tunisia.
The migrants complained about being regularly subjected to verbal and physical abuse in the North African country.
