Tunisian aid workers face trial for assisting migrants
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\nSix aid workers from a group that helps migrants and refugees went on trial in Tunisia Thursday accused of aiding irregular migration into the country, a key transit point for those seeking to reach Europe.<\/p>\n
According to Arab News, the accused work for the Tunisian Refugee Council (TRC), an aid organization that partnered with the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, to screen asylum applications in Tunisia.<\/p>\n
Migration is a sensitive issue in Tunisia, which saw a series of racially motivated attacks after President Kais Saied warned in 2023 that \u201chordes of illegal migrants,\u201d many from sub-Saharan Africa, posed a demographic threat to the Arab-majority country.<\/p>\n
Tunisian and international rights groups condemned the trial, saying it criminalized helping refugees and migrants.<\/p>\n
Four other employees were charged in the case but have not been held in custody.<\/p>\n
They are all charged with \u201csheltering\u201d migrants and \u201cfacilitating illegal entry\u201d into Tunisia, according to a lawyer.<\/p>\n
The defendants were arrested in May 2024 along with about a dozen humanitarian workers, including members of French group Terre d\u2019Asile and anti-racist organization Mnemty, who are awaiting trial.<\/p>\n
The lawyers have described the trial as \u201carbitrary\u201d and a \u201cviolation of Tunisia\u2019s international obligations.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tunisian aid workers face trial for assisting migrants ————————————- Six aid workers from a group that helps migrants and refugees went on trial in Tunisia Thursday accused of aiding irregular migration into the country, a key transit point for those seeking to reach Europe. According to Arab News, the accused work for the Tunisian Refugee …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":135701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_108372464460192_245495985553329":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[8645],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-niger"],"yoast_head":"\n