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Choucha Refugee Camp

Coordinates: 33°08′24″N 11°27′40″W / 33.14000°N 11.46111°W / 33.14000; -11.46111
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33°08′24″N 11°27′40″W / 33.14000°N 11.46111°W / 33.14000; -11.46111

Aerial view of Choucha refugee camp

Choucha is a refugee camp in the south of Tunisia, in the Medinine Governorate. The camp is located within 10 kilometers of the border crossing Ras Ajdir with Libya.[1] The camp was opened on the 24th of February, 2011 and run by the UNHCR, other NGOs and the Tunisian authorities. Choucha camp hosted mainly refugees who fled the conflict in Libya. The UNHCR officially closed the camp in 2013.[2]

Background

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Map
Location of Choucha refugee camp

In December 2010, the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia started. This event sparked several uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, also known as the Arab Spring. In February 2011 the revolution started in Libya as well, leading to a civil war in the country that is still ongoing. This created an influx of refugees from Libya into neighboring Tunisia. In response to this influx, the Tunisian authorities together with the UNHCR and other organisations opened seven refugee camps in the border region near Choucha. Choucha camp would become the biggest of these seven.[3] The UNCHR states that the camp welcomed up to 18.000 people a day when the conflict in Libya escalated.[2]

Actors in camp

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Residents

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Migrant workers fleeing the violence at the camp

The residents in Choucha refugee camp fled from the ongoing violence in Libya. Most of them were third-country nationals that were working in Libya when the war started.[4] Libyans that fled the war quickly found hosting families or other housing, therefore their presence in the refugee camp is minimal.[5] The registration of refugees in the camp was done by the UNHCR. The organisation started the registration on the 8th of March, 2011. After the 29th of March, the number of inhabitants of all camps surrounding Choucha were counted together so that there are no exact numbers of the camp.

Population Choucha refugee camp
Total number of residents Main ethnicity
March 8 15.000[6] -
March 9 16.558[7] Bangladeshi (13.277)
March 10 17.220[8] Bangladeshi (13.748)
March 13 17.130[9] Bangladeshi (11.597)
March 14 16.175[10] Bangladeshi (9.993)
March 15 15.751[11] Bangladeshi (8.443)
March 16 11.822[12] Bangladeshi (6.030)
March 18 8.829[13] Bangladeshi (4.084)
March 21 4.748[14] -
March 22 7.716[15] Sudanese (2.076)
March 27 7.286[16] Somali (1.639)
March 29 7.465[17] Chadian (1.818)

From the opening of Choucha, most inhabitants were Bangladeshi migrants who used to work in Libya. Most of them were repatriated to Bangladesh within the month of March through the Humanitarian Evacuation Cell (HEC) that was set up by the IOM and UNHCR.[18] From April 2011 on, the Choucha camp population would consist for the biggest part of sub-Saharan African nationals. Gradually, they would leave the camp either to go further into Tunisia or to leave for Europe. When the camp closed down in July 2013, the UNHCR reported that there were around 250 people left, to whom the Tunisian government offered temporary residence.[2]

NGOs

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Several NGOs were present in Choucha and the surrounding refugee camps.

The United Arab Emirates as a country also supported and managed one of the camps near Choucha.[19]

Humanitarian situation

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Medical situation

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The quick influx of refugees from February 2011 on made the hygienic situation in Choucha difficult. The first weeks there were no showers and few water points.[20] As more and more NGOs arrived in the refugee camp, more needs were met. The UNHCR started heading a Sanitary Alert system that held daily meetings with other NGOs, the Tunisian ministry of Health and EU-representatives to prevent epidemics.[20] A lot of people who were migrant workers in Libya did not receive any health care before the civil war in Libya started. So the consumption of health care was higher than in most refugee camps.[20] The health care in Choucha consisted of the following:

From March 16, 2011 the Tunisian Ministry of Health together with the WHO started vaccination campaigns in Choucha.[18]

MSF started offering mental health services in the camp.[21]

Danish Refugee Council and UNICEF were available for children's health care. UNICEF started a vaccination campaign for children under 5 years old.[22]

From October 2012 the UNHCR stopped providing medical care for people who were denied refugee status, but who remained in the camp.[23]

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In Tunisia there is no legal framework to ask for asylum. Therefore, residents of Choucha refugee camp could only be acknowledged by asking for international protection with the UNHCR.[24] In asking for international protection, residents of the camp would agree with a resettlement program to a safe third country. There have been several European countries who were willing to host the residents of the camp who were granted international protection. However, there have been few actual resettlements.[25] Moreover, there has been criticism of the inability for residents of Choucha to do an appeal when the UNHCR does not grant international protection.[26]

Incidents

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There have been several incidents reported. In May 2011 and March 2012 there were fires in the camp that caused several fatalities and injured.[27]

In May 2011, several migrants demanded to be resettled immediately by the UNHCR after a big fire and this caused a lot of unrest, also with the local population. The situation turned violent and in the following days Choucha camp was destroyed for the biggest part.[28]

Current situation

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Sub-Saharan migrants

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The camp was officially closed in June 2013 by the UNHCR. However, several hundreds of migrants - mostly from Sub-Saharan African countries - stayed in the camp.[29] Some organisations, like MSF, stayed in the surroundings of the camp to help the inhabitants of Choucha with food and health care, since there was no water or electricity in the camp.[21] In June 2017, four years after the camp was officially closed, Tunisian authorities evicted the remaining inhabitants of Choucha.[30] The sudden eviction was condemned by several organizations and NGOs, because of alleged violations of human rights.[31]

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Choucha Refugee camp.
  1. ^ "Reportage | Camps de réfugiés à Ras Jedir : Et vogue la galère à « Chouchaland » !". La Presse de Tunisie (in French). 2011-04-15. Retrieved 2025-05-16.
  2. ^ a b c "UNHCR closes camp in south Tunisia, moves services to urban areas". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-05-16.
  3. ^ Dourgnon, P.; Kassar, H. (2014-08-01). "Refugees in and out North Africa: a study of the Choucha refugee camp in Tunisia". The European Journal of Public Health. 24 (suppl 1): 6–10. doi:10.1093/eurpub/cku098. ISSN 1101-1262.
  4. ^ International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (2012). World Disasters Report 2012. Lyons, France: Imprimerie Chirat. pp. 36–37. ISBN 978-92-9139-187-5.
  5. ^ Müller-Funk, Lea; Natter, Katharina (2024-10-19). "Forced migration governance in Tunisia: Balancing risks and assets for state-making during independence and democratization". Mediterranean Politics. 29 (5): 617–641. doi:10.1080/13629395.2023.2191523. hdl:1887/3677307. ISSN 1362-9395.
  6. ^ "Update No.4 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-05-17.
  7. ^ "Update No.5 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-05-17.
  8. ^ "Update No.6 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-05-17.
  9. ^ "Update No.7 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-05-17.
  10. ^ "Update No.8 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-05-17.
  11. ^ "Update No.9 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-05-17.
  12. ^ "Update No.10 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-05-17.
  13. ^ "Update No.11 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-05-17.
  14. ^ "Update No.12 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-05-17.
  15. ^ "Update No.13 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-05-17.
  16. ^ "Update No.14 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-05-17.
  17. ^ "Update No.15 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-05-17.
  18. ^ a b "Update No.9 on the humanitarian situation in Libya and the neighbouring countries". UNHCR US. Retrieved 2025-05-16.
  19. ^ "UAE builds camp for refugees from Libya | UAE Embassy". UAE builds camp for refugees from Libya | UAE Embassy. 2025-05-16. Retrieved 2025-05-16.
  20. ^ a b c Dourgnon, Paul; Kassar, Hassène (2014-08-01). "Refugees in and out North Africa: a study of the Choucha refugee camp in Tunisia". European Journal of Public Health. 24 (suppl_1): 6–10. doi:10.1093/eurpub/cku098. ISSN 1101-1262.
  21. ^ a b "Tunisia | MSF medical and humanitarian aid". www.msf.org.za. Retrieved 2025-05-16.
  22. ^ Killeen, Justin. "saida-a-6-year-old-refugee". UNICEF Ireland. Retrieved 2025-05-16.
  23. ^ Tazzioli, Martina; Garelli (2014). "The crisis as border. Choucha refugee camp and its 'People not of Concern'". Etnografia e ricerca qualitativa. 7 (1): 15–26. doi:10.3240/76245. ISSN 1973-3194.
  24. ^ "Protection". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-05-16.
  25. ^ "Resettlement of unaccompanied children from Tunisia to Norway". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-05-16.
  26. ^ FTDES (2012-11-21). "[:fr]Rapport: Choucha 2012[:ar]تقرير مخيّم الشوشة 2012[:]". FTDES (in French). Retrieved 2025-05-16.
  27. ^ FTDES (August 2012). "Rapport concernant la situation des réfugiés au camp de Choucha".
  28. ^ "Disruption at Choucha Camp near Tunisia-Libya border". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-05-16.
  29. ^ "Stranded in Tunisia, the forgotten refugees of Libya's 2011 conflict". France 24. 2014-08-04. Retrieved 2025-05-16.
  30. ^ Lageman, Thessa. "Refugees in limbo after Tunisia shuts desert camp". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2025-05-16.
  31. ^ "Tunisia: Evacuation of the Choucha Camp". EuroMed Rights. Retrieved 2025-05-16.
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