As Tunisian authorities intensify their crackdown on migrant camps in El Amra and Jebeniana, a WhatsApp group is offering sub-Saharan migrants fast-track repatriation to their home countries.
Over the last three years, thousands of undocumented migrants – many of them from sub-Saharan Africa – have camped among the olive trees near Sfax, Tunisia, on the road between El Amra and Jebeniana.
But since the beginning of the year, the Tunisian authorities have been cracking down.
Our team spoke to Ibrahim (not his real name), a migrant from Sierra Leone:
“They started raiding camps at night, which made it more insecure and more risky for us, because they might just come from nowhere at night. Then the camp will be in a panic. Everyone will be running with blankets with their kids to be able to secure a few things.
After they leave, maybe after some hours, you'll be hearing people realising that some things got missing. One of the most important things we value most at the moment here whenever we see the police, is a blanket – or a phone."
‘Voluntary returns’
The Tunisian government has put in place a system of so-called “voluntary returns”, offering to pay for air tickets for migrants to return to their home countries.
Last September, a WhatsApp group appeared, with organisers offering to provide transport to the Tunis airport. More than 1,000 people joined the group, which NGOs say is backed by the Tunisian government.
Migrants who joined the group say they received cash payments before boarding flights to their home country.
That’s what happened to Paul (pseudonym), a migrant from Cameroon now back in his hometown, Douala.
"They processed us in Tunis. They gave us 500 euros. The bus came to pick us up at 4am. There were nine of us from Cameroon, and three Ivorians.
They put us on an Air Algeria plane. When we arrived in Algeria, we had a layover. Around 9pm, they gave us our papers and put us on another plane."
These rapid returns are much faster than the process put in place by the UN’s migration organisation. The UN returns come with higher payments but can take months.
‘I chose my health’
Paul couldn’t wait. He was sick and, without papers, couldn’t seek medical help in Tunisia.
“Tunisia is a thousand times better than Cameroon, but I had no freedom, and no health care.
I had been in Tunisia since September 2023, and I hadn't had a medical checkup.
Even if you earn money, the money stays in Tunisia. There is no transaction. I had no papers.
So I chose my health. That's why I agreed to voluntary return. And it was quick.
But I do have regrets. My country is barely a country. The pay was good in Tunisia. If I do the same work here in Cameroon, I get paid one-third as much.”
The organisers of the WhatsApp group claim to have sent back 275 migrants in a single week. Our team asked the Tunisian authorities for confirmation, but they did not respond.
The UN’s program returned nearly 9,000 migrants to their home countries in 2025.
English (US) · 