April 7, Tunis According to private radio station Mosaique FM, Tunisian President Kais Saied vehemently denied that during his time in office, his country had made any arrangements with European nations for the repatriation of Tunisians living illegally in Europe.

Speaking during a ceremony commemorating the 25th anniversary of the passing of former President Habib Bourguiba in the eastern coastal province of Monastir on Sunday, Saied emphasized that the only accords of this kind were made before Bourguiba became president.

Saied said that humanitarian and moral values served as the foundation for Tunisia’s recent destruction of migrant camps in the southeast province of Sfax.

According to Xinhua news agency, Saied said that a rumored scheme to relocate illegal migrants in Sfax’s El Amra and Jebniana neighborhoods had been foiled.

The president said that all migrants were treated with respect and decency and emphasized that the evacuation procedure was carried out amicably, without the use of tear gas or guns.

On January 27, 2009, the interior ministries of Tunisia and Italy signed a bilateral agreement, according to the non-governmental organization Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES). The agreement provided a framework for the readmission of third-country nationals who had transited through Tunisia and the gradual deportation of unauthorized Tunisian migrants in groups.

Additional meeting minutes from April 2011 helped to further strengthen the agreement. According to the FTDES, the number of migrants deported has risen significantly since then, from 40 per week to 80, then 160, and finally to an unreported and undetermined amount.

In October 2019, Saied was elected president of Tunisia.