REPORT AT A GLANCE
The question of the sub-Saharan presence in the Maghreb countries is not new. Since the advent of "Fortress Europe", the imposition of individual visas on the countries of the South and the implementation of intra-African restrictions, sub-Saharan migration to the countries of the north of the continent is a growing phenomenon.
In Tunisia, this form of migration accelerated after 2011, mainly since the Libyan migration route was considered too dangerous. Along with a shift in the number of immigrants entering the country, the very nature of this migration has changed, increasingly becoming a settlement migration, not transit.
Among sub-Saharan migrants living in Tunisia, people in need of protection represents a significant proportion. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) registered around 1,000 asylum requests in 2015, in contrast to 5,678 refugees and asylum seekers until the end of October 2020, 669 which are of Sub-Saharan origin.
