Mass expulsions and mistreatment of migrants reported in Tunisia as tensions spike in port city

By BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA and RENATA BRITO
Associated Press

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tensions have spiked dangerously in a Tunisian port city after three migrants were detained in the death of a local man. There have been reports of retaliation against Black foreigners and accounts of mass expulsions and alleged assaults by security forces. A spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office in the city of Sfax says the suspects in the man’s slaying were under investigation for premeditated murder and 22 migrants from sub-Saharan countries in Africa also were detained for questioning. Sfax is a main departure point for migrants and refugees planning to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. After the 41-year-old Tunisian man was killed, residents blocked a road, burned tires and demanded the deporations of migrants.