Refugees and asylum seekers in Tunisia are finding trouble getting financial assistance, official spokesperson for The Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (French: FTDES) Romdhane Ben Omar said Friday, adding that “this forced them to work in vulnerable conditions.”
Ben Omar told TAP the failure to obtain grants from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has pushed many refugees to seek another source of income, which make them vulnerable to the violation of their dignity and rights and forced to work in precarious conditions.
He stated an example of a refugee, who was granted asylum in August 2019 and was involved in a workplace accident on August 12 as he was forced to work in unsafe conditions in order to survive.
Ben Omar denounced the failure of the UN organisations in fulfilling their duty by offering assistance to refugees and asylum seekers, calling for providing more help to them as their number is on the rise.
TAP has received a statement that was signed by more than fifty refugees and asylum seekers from African countries. The signatories denounced the difficult social conditions they have been facing in Tunisia.
Executive Director of the Refugee Protection Project at the Tunisian Refugee Council Abderrazek Krimi denied any ethnic discrimination while granting aid from the UNHCR or its partners to refugees and asylum seekers.
He said providing grants and assistance depends on several criteria. The most important of which is the precarious situation of refugees and asylum seekers, particularly unaccompanied children, single mothers, the elderly, victims of violence, people with disabilities …
He stressed that the asylum card does not directly give the right to assistance, stressing that the UNHCR grants financial assistance to refugees for a period of 3 months on a renewable basis. In case of voluntary return, integration in host country or transfer to another country, financial assistance is suspended, he clarified.
According to the official, each refugee and asylum seeker receives an amount of 250 dinars. A grant of 350 dinars is offered to each refugee family who also benefits from an additional sum of money depending on the number of children they have.
Krimi stressed the need to devise a national legislation that protects the material and moral rights of refugees and asylum seekers, particularly amid their growing number, which is currently estimated at more than 8,500 and is expected to reach 12,000 late this year.
Tunisia has 4 reception centres for refugees and asylum seekers, including 1 in Medenine, 2 in Zarzis and 1 in Tunis.
Source: TAP News Agency