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Once a 'transit city', Tunisia's financial capital Sfax now a 'destination' for Sub-Saharan migrants Racial tensions in the Tunisian coastal city of Sfax flared into violence targeting migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, dozens of whom were forcibly evicted from the city, witnesses said Wednesday. Amid the disturbances late Tuesday, police detained some and deported them as far away as the Libyan border more than 300 kilometres (over 200 miles), according to a local rights group. The latest unrest started after the funeral of a 41-year-old Tunisian man who was stabbed to death Monday in an altercation with migrants, which led to the arrests of three suspects from Cameroon. With a sharp rise in tensions between exasperated Tunisians and African migrants seeking a better life, FRANCE 24 is joined by independent journalist Rabeb Alaoui. "The situation in Sfax is really critical," she explains. "We are witnessing a rise in hostility and escalating violence. Sfax was always a transit city for Sub-Saharan migrants to cross the Mediterranean to Europe," she adds, "but today many migrants stay in Sfax because they found jobs, they found more opportunities." So now, more than ever, migrants are fleeing their countries to begin a new life in Sfax, angering the local population. And now, with escalating violence, vigilante assaults, and arbitrary expulsions, the situation in Sfax has reached a boiling point.