The African Union condemned recent racist comments by Tunisian President Kais Saied after he called for an end to sub-Saharan migration to Tunisia and claimed Black undocumented migrants were part of a plot to alter Tunisia’s demographics. Hundreds of people in the capital Tunis took to the streets Saturday to demonstrate against hate speech and anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies.

Nibras Mjanah: “The president incited people against each other. The level of racism was much lower in the past, not like now. Now it is normal for you to be assaulted for no reason, just because of your color.”

This comes amid ongoing protests against President Saied since he dismissed the Tunisian government in 2021 and started consolidating power. Last week security forces arrested prominent opposition figure Jaouhar Ben M’barek as detentions of Saied’s critics and political opponents have been ramping up.