I left Guinea, I went on an adventure, in Libya, they tortured me, put me in prison and beaten. Some of my friends are dead; the others were afraid. In Libya, it was not easy; they tortured us morning, noon, and evening; that's why I decided to leave Libya to come here to Tunisia .. some sought asylum, others did not ask; but, they are already giving us accommodation, water and electricity, for everyone. We do not pay anything, and every week they give us a ticket to feed and refuel. Many stories have been told about this. There are not many refugees in Tunisia but 'a hopeless refugee is already too much', according to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Tunisia, which decided, in partnership with the Arab Institute for Human Rights, to launch a project urging the Tunisian government to adopt a law on asylum in Tunisia. What about this project? Ms. Hajer Habchi, Program Director at the Arab Institute for Human Rights, tells us about it. Tunisia has started to prepare a national project since 2012. We are working on the introduction of this law and the creation of advocacy networks for Tunisia to adopt and develop a legal framework for the protection of refugees. This project also includes an important step: the media campaign launched by the Institute and the UNHCR to present more information on asylum issues in Tunisia, the definition of the national law, the support of Tunisia for adoption of this law and the slogan of this campaign: "We do not forget you, the Tunisian law protects you" general views of the capital + voiceover Tunisia is preparing to enact a law for the protection of refugees, the first of its kind in Arab countries. The Ministry of Justice completed the drafting of the project after six years of work. Until June 2018, the number of refugees and asylum seekers reached 1014, distributed among 129 asylum seekers and 885 refugees, 75% of whom are Syrians, the rest from Iraq, Iran and Central Africa, according to recent statistics from the UNHCR office in Tunis. Medenine, in southern Tunisia, is home to the largest migrant shelter, supervised by the Tunisian Red Crescent. The city of Medenine attracts the vast majority of migrants and refugees coming to Tunisia. The Tunisian Red Crescent runs a private dormitory for 210 people, where we place vulnerable or unmarried people. Judge Mohamed Gammoudi, an expert at the Arab Institute for Human Rights, discusses the need for Tunisia to enact a law on asylum. Our international obligations require that the Tunisian State prepare a law on refugees, because we have adopted the International Convention of 1951. because we have adopted the International Convention of 1951 of the experience of the Tunisian people and the Tunisian State at the beginning of the Libyan Revolution and the Shusha camp, now closed. This experience has raised many practical problems in the treatment of refugees. The Medenine Refugee Shelter is a mix of different and interesting stories that every refugee can tell you. They have similar motives that led them to leave their home country, but they differ in the suffering they experienced until they arrived at that center. Here in Tunisia, we sleep well, we eat well, there is water and electricity, when we get sick, they treat us, but it is the problem of work that bother us. Some of us work, while others do not work. We are here in peace, it is a thousand times better than in Libya. Work is the main problem faced by refugees in Tunisia, so many of them do not think to stay there. Frankly, we have to find a good job to stay here. Nobody will tell you he will stay in Tunisia. If he does not find work, he will leave. The thousand-kilometer journey begins with one step, and the first step that the Arab Institute for Human Rights and the UNHCR office have taken is to first organize a series of seminars to explain the phenomenon of asylum in the world and the definition of refugee and raise awareness of the need to properly manage asylum situations that people face. Her husband is missing, she is the victim of sexual violence, she suffers from psychological disorders. The idea that the law on asylum in Tunisia would create and deepen certain social and economic problems, including unemployment, the cost of living and others, is not based on any scientific, legal or even historical data. As part of the training workshops for judges and lawyers, training was organized on possible situations in which a refugee seeks a settlement of his legal status. This training simulates what the courts will see in the future. (Virtual hearing before the court showing the procedures to be followed in the defense of the rights of an asylum seeker in the framework of a training workshop) The refugee, Yasmin, entered the country on May 30, 2014, fleeing her country and seeking refuge within the meaning of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. Yasmin is alleged to have committed acts contrary to the laws of his country and the principles of the United Nations, according to which asylum is granted. The civil party opposes the granting of asylum. The Court decided to accept the objection formally, and, in essence, the Court decides on the granting of the asylum application. The program of the Institute and UNHCR is not limited to Tunisia, but is part of the strengthening of the bill and aims to better know the experiences of other countries. During his second visit abroad, in Turkey, we accompanied the team as part of a high-level government delegation, composed of deputies, representatives of the media and representatives of ministries. We have come to Turkey to learn more about its asylum experience, especially as Turkey is a pioneering country in this field, with 3.5 million Syrian refugees currently living there. This visit also helps to better understand the draft Law on the Right of Asylum being drafted by the Tunisian government. We went with representatives of the Turkish authorities to a Syrian refugee camp in Gaziantep. We tried to know their daily life, how they spend their day and how they live in this camp? For example, people with reduced mobility have received electric chairs and the doctor is present 24 hours a day. In the camp, there is a shop where all refugees can make purchases since they receive at the end of each month a subsidy of 100 Turkish lira ($ 17) per person. For example, in a single room, there are 5 people who receive 500 lire (£ 85), and this amount is only for eating, they do not pay any bills. We want to have a national law, to exchange projects with other countries and to examine various projects, because the text has not yet been transmitted to the Council of Ministers and the Parliament. So we can improve and refine the content. We are supposed to work with a wide range of relevant departments, civil society, journalists and all structures. The bill is the subject of several observations by experts, specialists and members of Parliament, which must be followed up before proceeding to the next stage. The fugitive person who has neither passport nor document and who gives you a name? This is what happened to us during the first six months of 2011, when a million people entered Tunisia. The problem today is that the Arab countries are the countries that provide the most refugees in the world. On the other hand, it is these same countries that are the least welcoming refugees in the world, which is a major paradox. Other countries are hosting Arab refugees, while Arab legal systems are intolerant of refugees. The advocacy program of the Arab Institute for Human Rights in Tunisia and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has lasted for about two years. We already have a first idea about the project prepared by the Tunisian government concerning the right of asylum; to tell you the truth, there are many gaps. It must be given enough time to refine it before consideration in the People's Representatives Assembly. I request a revision of several chapters in order to adapt it to Tunisian society and existing infrastructures in Tunisia. This law was not rejected because it was the Tunisian government that initiated it. In Tunisia, there is a desire to move forward, but we still need more support and political will. Efforts are continuing in Tunisia to advance this draft law on asylum and to ratify and implement it. Tunisia would then become the first Arab and African country to adopt such laws.