(TAP) – The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Immigration and Tunisians Abroad, Othman Jerandi said, as he met Wednesday, May 11, 2022, with the Representative of the UN Refugee Agency in Tunisia Hanan Hamdan, that Tunisia "cannot serve as a platform for illegal immigration, particularly amid the economic and social challenges it is facing."

Tunisia, he added, "was not the final destination of the majority of refugees and asylum seekers. " It is receiving them on a temporary basis in line with its international commitments and while taking into consideration the precarious situation of the most of them, until finding a way to reestablish them in other countries."

The meeting was a part of the efforts made to monitor the situation of refugees and asylum seekers staging a sit-in outside the UNHCR Office in Tunis.

Hanan Hamdan informed the minister about the latest developments and said sit-inners are intent on maintaining the sit-in if their demands to be evacuated from Tunisia are not met.

Hanan Hamdan also stressed that the whole international community needs to endorse the responsibility of refugees and the UNHCR is in contact with all actors and international partners to convince refugees and asylum seekers to put an end to the sit-in and head to accommodation centers.