Rabat – Calls are growing in sub-Saharan Africa to boycott Tunisian products, following racist and anti-immigrant remarks from Tunisian President Kais Saied last month.
The boycott campaign extended to food products such as couscous, dates, pasta, and oil, as well as hygienic products and all other Tunisian-made goods. Lists of such products have been shared on social media.
In February, Saied made headlines with his anti-immigrant rhetoric, declaring that undocumented immigrants are changing Tunisia’s demographic composition, shortly following the arrest of a group of undocumented migrants.
President of the Tunisia Africa Business Council Anis Jaziri confirmed on Facebook that many orders for Tunisian products from sub-Saharan countries have been canceled.
He also highlighted that many African students in the country had been subjected to abuse, resulting in some of them having to leave their schools.
“The campaign to boycott Tunisian products is growing, especially in Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, and Guinea,” he said. “The crisis’ consequences on health and education are very big.”
Saied’s remarks sparked protests in Tunisia itself, where hundreds of people marched on the streets accusing the president of racist comments.
In addition to claiming that migrants were “erasing” the Tunisian identity, Saied also said “urgent measures” should be taken to stop them from entering.
“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,” news reports quoted the president as saying.
“It is a racist approach just like the campaigns in Europe,” Tunisian activist Romdhane Ben Amor told Reuters. “The presidential campaign aims to create an imaginary enemy for Tunisians to distract them from their basic problems.”
Much like other countries in North Africa, Tunisia is a transitional country for sub-Saharan immigrants who usually want to reach Europe by crossing the Mediterranean.
The migrants are often escaping uninhabitable situations, such as war zones, political instability, and terrorism which all continue to dominate some regions in Africa such as the Sahel.
