Tunisia was ranked among the top 10 worst countries for workers’ rights in 2025 by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). Despite being at the epicenter of protests against corruption and economic deprivation in the region more than a decade ago, Tunisia’s systemic issues remain prevalent, and the poverty rate is still around 15%.

The Global Rights Index

The ITUC organizes to defend workers’ rights across the world, is democratically governed and motivated to manage cooperation between unions and major global institutions. It has created a database to track abuses against migrant workers, called the Global Rights Index. The 12th edition of the Index works to catalogue recent anti-democratic acts against workers from governments, revealing a crisis for workers’ rights globally.

The recent Index is paired with the ITUC’s campaign “For Democracy that Delivers,” an attempt to unite labourers’ collective power to successfully defend their rights. More and more governments are reshaping legislation to criminalize civil organizations as “foreign agents,” the ITUC believes. Unions negotiating for workers’ rights have seen judicial action and legal provisions being used to stifle freedom of expression in Tunisia, causing the ITUC to express concern for union figures facing possible prosecution or arrest.

The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre also manages a database to record the human rights violations against migrant workers around the world. It outlines companies and businesses named in the Migrant Worker Allegation Database, containing publicly recorded cases and conveying how vulnerable migrants are worldwide.

Migrants and Workers

Tunisia holds the status of a transit space and gateway for Sub-Saharan Africans to migrate into Europe, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace experts state. European governments often practice blanket policies and actions to prevent migrants from emigrating or seeking asylum, leaving this group to remain in Tunisia or bordering regions with an unstable status. While remaining in Tunisia, a number of migrants have to undertake work in the region to sustain themselves. 

An affiliated union in the Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail (UGTT) was established to organize Sub-Saharan African workers in light of their sizable number in the workforce. The UGTT, a political actor and union representing 800,000 Tunisian members, remains one of the Arab world’s most influential trade unions. Inclusion in this union provides a framework to succeed in strengthening the rights of migrant workers in Tunisia, securing and including them as part of a formal economy.

The International Labour Organization’s (ILO) conventions are agreements self-sanctioned and ratified by Tunisia, of which more than half are enforced according to the Danish Trade Union Development Agency. Despite this, the ITUC’s research stands that these rights are in jeopardy due to the persecution of free speech. Additionally, the government did not sign the four ILO ratifications specific to migrant protections as of 2024.

Anti-migration practices have led to the obstruction of critically inalienable human rights of migrants. Similar treatment is undeniably advancing toward other groups, as evidenced by the ITUC describing worsening rights for all workers in Tunisia. Both vulnerable to wavering legal frameworks, unadopted protective legislation and the degradation of workers’ rights, migrant workers in Tunisia have multidimensional security concerns.

Sub-Saharan African Migrants

Migrant workers from Sub-Saharan Africa faced even greater levels of hostility and economic risks from anti-migrant sentiment in the Tunisian government. Human Rights Watch recounts severe, “racially motivated” abuses after President Kais Saied’s abrasive remarks sparked violence in the first half of 2023. A large number of Black migrants, refugees and asylum seekers faced physical endangerment and economic risks due to targeted firings, increased unemployment and robberies.

Migrants unlawfully losing jobs creates less revenue for the host country, as the OECD claims economic impacts from migration are related to their structural integration into labour markets, salaries and employment. Its research suggests that, generally, migrants do not take more benefits than citizens and that they contribute more in taxes on average.

The Saied government’s lack of protection for the process of seeking asylum directly opposes its state obligation to shelter asylum seekers and refugees. International law also mandates the right to seek asylum from persecution according to Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

Looking Ahead

Despite increasing research and clarification on economic and humanitarian complexities, the Tunisian administration has held steadfast to expulsion tactics against the unprotected group. Tunisia has been encouraged by various human rights organizations on actions to take in order to uphold its duty to protect asylum seekers, migrants and refugees. Databases like the Global Rights Index and union operations for legislative inclusion are critical to confronting the issues faced by migrant workers in Tunisia.

– Aliyah Omar

Aliyah is based in Alberta, Canada and focuses on Global Health and Politics for The Borgen Project.

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