The story behind a misleading media campaign

Recently, there has been growing concern about the prevalence of biased and provocative press articles and reports in some foreign media. These reports have presented themselves as examples of ‘trusted journalism’, but unfortunately this is not an accurate reflection of their recent output.

The aforementioned media outlets are engaged in a pattern of abusive journalism, characterized by a lack of objectivity and a tendency toward sensationalism. This is seen by political analysts as part of a concerted media campaign in the run-up to the Tunisian presidential elections.

To illustrate this point, you might cite the two most recent articles published in the Guardian, a British daily newspaper, entitled “The brutal truth behind Italy’s migrant reduction”. The above articles, published in the Guardian (British newspaper) and other French and American media, contain a similar level of bias and abuse, lack of credibility and conclusive evidence of the claims and accusations made by selected migrants.

These include reports of abuse and rape by EU-funded forces in Tunisia and the EU’s alleged desire for Tunisia to investigate claims of rape by migrants. The arguments put forward by these media and their political analysts contain inaccurate information, inaccurate and hasty analyzes and untrue accusations. Indeed, the pitfalls of bias and misconception are clearly visible in these press releases. So we cannot believe their thoughts and analysis that “hundreds of sub-Saharan migrant women have been raped by Tunisian security forces over the past eighteen months” because it is a fabricated story that is completely unsubstantiated.

Unfortunately, the reports against Tunisia by the Guardian and other foreign media violate journalistic values ​​by implying fake news and disinformation. These media institutions deliberately aim to undermine Tunisia’s reputation, create tension between Tunisia and many African countries, and deceive readers into believing their stories, which can cause danger and anger and incite hatred and conflict.

Worst of all, such reports exploit the suffering of migrants instead of addressing the causes of the influx of migrants and helping Tunisia to curb this phenomenon; Such exploitation also makes it “difficult to find the truth” in the dire situation, because relying on the testimonies of migrant smugglers, who exploit every security vacuum and extort money from desperate migrants, is not a fair choice? Be that as it may, migrants are expected to be exposed to many conditions, including sexual and gender-based violence, at the borders and at their destinations, mainly at the hands of smugglers rather than security forces.

As a Tunisian citizen, I, like many others, wondered about the objectives of distorting Tunisia and involving one of its most important security institutions at this time, without any evidence, not even from the International Organization for Migration. It is important to emphasize that Tunisia is moving towards ensuring the protection of the human rights of migrants in vulnerable situations and putting in place binding procedures for its security forces to respect and protect them. It is worth appreciating from the foreign media the strong and sincere efforts that Tunisia has made to combat the phenomenon of migrants, which has assumed an unprecedented dimension.

It is crucial to emphasize that Tunisia is taking important steps to protect the human rights of migrants in vulnerable conditions and implement binding protocols so that its security forces can adhere to and protect them. The international media must recognize and acknowledge Tunisia’s commendable and dedicated efforts in tackling the urgent problem of migration, which has reached unprecedented proportions.

TunisianMonitorOnline