Tunisia: migrants arrested after fatal stabbing of local man

In Tunisia's coastal city of Sfax, three African migrants have been arrested as suspects following the fatal stabbing of a local man

The victim, aged in his early 40s, was stabbed late on Monday during a fight between local residents and migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, according to Faouzi Masmoudi, spokesperson for the city's prosecutor. 

Masmoudi said the three suspects were from Cameroon. Following the arrests, p olice stood guard outside the African migrants' house, for fear of reprisals.

Anti-migrant sentiment

The incident took place after months of growing tensions between Tunisians and migrants. 

Locals in Sfax regularly protest the migrants' presence in Tunisia's second-largest city which acts as a departure point for many migrants hoping to reach Italy. In February, President Kais Saied accused "hordes" of illegal migrants of bringing violence, crime and "unacceptable practices", prompting a rise in racially motivated attacks on migrants and foreign students.

In late May, police arrested three Tunisians on suspicion of stabbing to death a migrant from Benin. 

Tunisian economic crisis

Tunisia hosts an estimated 21 000 migrants from other parts of Africa, out of a population of 12 million, representing 0.2 percent. 

Though some of those migrants come to Tunisia to study, many hope to use the country as a springboard to reach Europe across the Mediterranean sea. 

Amid an economic crisis in the country, Tunisians themselves are also joining the exodus. 

Tunisian is highly indebted and in talks for a bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund. However, Saied has repeatedly rejected what he terms the "diktats" of the Washington-based IMF.