Burning borders: Deconstructing the visual landscape of sub-Saharan migration along Tunisia’s desert wall

In 2015, Tunisia decided to erect a dirt wall and to dig a trench along 250 km of its borders with Libya. The security-oriented fortification was justified by suspicious terrorist activities taking place near the Tunisian borders and putting the country’s territorial integrity under a grave threat. However, this same fortification brought to the surface multiple issues related to the obstruction of the historical flow of goods and people between the two nations, which represented a relief valve for the communities living along the borders. The situation further deteriorated in July 2023 when a group of sub-Saharan migrants expelled from the country and pushed towards Libya found themselves inhumanely trapped in the desert. The suffering of these migrants was captured by photographs taken at the borders to visually document the violence of Tunisia’s migration policy. This visual documentation fails, nevertheless, to account for different power and knowledge dynamics fuelling the novel brutality of the Tunisia–Libya borders. Drawing on decolonial theory, this article historicizes Tunisian border practices, deconstructs colonial knowledge informing today’s inhumane praxis and proposes remedies to border brutality, in harmony with the country’s heritage and ambitions.