TUNIS: Human Rights Watch on Monday called for charges against migrant aid workers accused of assisting irregular migration into Tunisia to be dropped, denouncing it as part of a broader crackdown on NGOs.
The accused work for the Tunisian Refugee Council (TRC), an aid organization that partnered with the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, to screen asylum applications in the North African country.
Tunisian rights groups have also condemned the trial, which resumed on Monday, saying it criminalized helping refugees and migrants. Lawyers have insisted that the TRC had worked legally to help asylum seekers.
Human Rights Watch called on the authorities to “drop the unfounded charges” and “stop criminalizing the legitimate work of independent groups.”
The defendants include TRC head Mustapha Djemali, an 81-year-old Tunisian-Swiss national, and project manager Abderrazek Krimi.
