According to New York Times, Tunisia’s president declared migrants from other parts of Africa as pawns in a “criminal plot” to make his predominantly Arab and Muslim nation “a purely African country.”

migrants in Tunis last weekend, and several anti-Saied factions have called for a major demonstration against the president on Sunday. Among them is a powerful national trade union, known by its French initials U.G.T.T. One of the union’s officers was recently arrested because he helped organize a strike.

Tunisia’s foreign ministry has accused critics, including the African Union, the United States and France, of misinterpreting the president’s words. On Friday, Saied denied that his speech was racist, asserting that legal migrants had nothing to fear. Nevertheless, he repeated his claims about a conspiracy to effect a demographic change.

Tunisia, with a population of about 12 million, is home to an estimated 20,000 sub-Saharan Africans, many of whom crossed into Tunisia illegally for the menial jobs that Tunisians often reject. Others work or study legally.

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