Dozens of refugees have protested in Tunisia, complaining of marginalisation and inhumane treatment, and demanding to be evacuated. 

The migrants, who are mostly from Sudan and sub-Saharan countries, held a sit-in in front of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in the southern port of Zarzis. 

"We have refugee status but this organisation (UNHCR) does not care about us," one Sudanese protester told AFP.

Some held up banners reading "stop the violence against us."

The Tunisian coast guard intercepted nearly 20,000 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe during the first three-quarters of last year.

The North African country’s current legal frameworks fail to provide a sufficient response to the present-day challenges of asylum rights, access to work, healthcare, education, and freedom of movement. 

In this system, women and girls are amongst the most vulnerable groups; in transit, they are most endangered when crossing borders and settling in inhumane conditions which put them at high risk of sex trafficking and gender-based violence. 

Many women flee conditions of violence, only to experience more violence in camps that they are involuntarily held at while crossing over to Europe, or go missing on their way. 

According to the Missing Migrants Project, 2,048 people went missing in the Mediterranean in 2021, with 23,000 missing since 2014.