Tunisian Police Disperse African Migrants Camped at UNHCR Office

Tunisian police used tear gas to disperse some 100 asylum seekers including African migrants who were camped outside the U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in the upscale Berges du Lac neighborhood of Tunis, AFP said. The sub-Saharan nationals, who are mostly seeking to be evacuated to other countries, have been on the edge after UNHCR officials suspended review of their cases, witnesses said. These migrants have been staying in makeshift tents without toilet facilities or water, since President Kais Saied claimed in February without evidence that migrants from sub-Saharan Africa were causing crime and represented a "plot" to change Tunisia's demographic makeup. Interior ministry spokesman Faker Bouzghaya said the police intervened at the request of the UNHCR and that 80 migrants had been detained.