No to the Reproduction of Colonial Logic: A Statement for Human Dignity and an African Space Free from Racism
The Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights condemns in the strongest terms the serious racist statements made on a television program, which openly called for limiting the births of immigrant women in Tunisia and aligned itself with European border export policies and their associated violence and enforcement tools in Tunisia. These repeated statements, benefiting from impunity, represent a continuous moral and intellectual decline and constitute a renewed violation of human rights and the principles of equality and dignity.
What we have been witnessing for years is a worrying rise in structural racism, which has shifted from individual outbursts to an integrated system that opens the door to hate speech and racism in the digital, media, and political spheres, based on colonial and fascist ideas and policies.
The danger of what was said in this program and in previous statements, and even in the official discourse of the Tunisian state through the repetition of the “demographic threat,” has turned public policies on migration into punitive policies towards migrants. These policies justify mass expulsions from the borders, the isolation of migrants in confined geographical spaces, control over their bodies and lives, and the conditioning of public opinion to accept more serious violations under the pretext of demographic, security, health, and economic threats.
Although we are convinced that the Tunisian state is incapable of enforcing Law No. 50 of 2018 because it was the first to violate it with its rhetoric and policies, the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights:
Reiterates that the Tunisian state bears full responsibility for the spread of racist and hate speech.
Calls on the Tunisian state to assume its historical responsibilities, acknowledge its mistakes, and restore its role as a guarantor of rights that rejects all forms of racism and hatred.
Emphasizes the need to ensure that no one who promotes or incites racism, under any media or political guise, goes unpunished.
Reminds that racist and fascist ideas are not a “point of view,” and that presenting them as debatable is direct participation in symbolic violence and a dangerous slide towards racial segregation.
We reject the transformation of our country into a space where people are measured by their origin, color, and administrative status, rather than by their humanity and rights.
Resisting the reproduction of colonial and fascist logic is our path to building a society based on equality, dignity, and human rights for all, and for an African space that is united and free from all forms of colonialism and racism.
Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights
President: Abdelrahman Hedhili
