Family of Tunisian Humanitarian Sharifa Riahi Urges End to Crackdown on Migration Activism
Tunisian authorities accused of politicizing humanitarian work and silencing civil society as Sharifa Riahi remains jailed despite acquittal of major charges
Watan-The family of Sharifa Riahi, head of the humanitarian organization Tunisia Terre d’Asile, has called on the government to stop criminalizing humanitarian work and scapegoating organizations defending migrant rights for the state’s failure to manage irregular migration.
Leila Riahi, Sharifa’s sister, said:“There is increasing repression of field-based humanitarian and civil society work under the Tunisian regime, which has since taking power labeled NGOs as agents, saboteurs, and traitors. The work of associations defending migrants’ rights has been falsely portrayed as an effort to resettle migrants in Tunisia and alter the demographic makeup. These were the words of the head of state himself, followed by arrests of civil society activists—including Sharifa Riahi and Saadia Mosbah—accompanied by smear campaigns accusing them of foreign allegiance by so-called defenders of sovereignty.”
Leila Riahi: Tunisia Targeting Migrant Advocates While Ignoring Its Own Victims Abroad
She added:”At the same time, the regime hasn’t defended any Tunisian citizens tortured or killed in European prisons.”
Leila Riahi: We cannot be blamed for the state’s failure to solve this crisis.
Leila emphasized that Tunisia Terre d’Asile, chaired by her sister, is a humanitarian organization that originally focused on the rights of Palestinian, Syrian, and Sudanese refugees before the surge in migration from Sub-Saharan Africa.
Sharifa Riahi was arrested over a year ago on charges of conspiracy and money laundering. Although later acquitted of these charges, the judiciary has refused to release her.
Leila explained:”The case has gone through multiple phases. The investigative judge dismissed all charges, and when the prosecution appealed, the indictment chamber confirmed their removal but upheld the notion of an ‘agreement.’ Sharifa now faces accusations of harboring migrants and assisting their movement, and of ‘conspiring’ with the municipal council in Sousse, which had allocated the organization an office to offer legal advice to migrants. This has led the court to reject multiple release requests by her lawyers. We now await a hearing before the Court of Cassation.”
Sharifa Riahi’s Family: Political Detention Destroying Her Health and Children’s Lives
Sharifa, she added, is in poor physical and mental condition.
“She hasn’t seen her children in over a year. She was unable to breastfeed her infant daughter, who was just two months old at the time of arrest and now doesn’t recognize her mother. Her eldest son, who only recently managed to visit, suffers from isolation and psychological distress.”
Leila continued:“From the start, Sharifa’s arrest was unjust and politically motivated. The investigation revealed no crime had occurred. It’s a political maneuver meant to deflect from the state’s failure to resolve the migration issue. It also stems directly from Tunisia’s recent agreement with the EU, which essentially makes Tunisia responsible for guarding Europe’s borders.”
She added:“This entire process aims to silence Tunisian voices defending the rights of migrants and refugees, so the state can comply with European demands to establish detention centers and deport migrants before they reach Europe.”
She concluded:“We urge the Tunisian authorities—and anyone capable of influencing this case—to release Sharifa and all those detained with her. There is no crime justifying their continued imprisonment.”
