Challenges of Free Movement of Persons in Africa from a Human Rights Perspective: The Tunisian Context

A fundamental principle of the African Union is the integration of peoples, allowing forunrestricted movement between member states, along with the right to reside and engagein their trade or profession. Article 12 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples'Rights acknowledges the right to freedom of movement as a fundamental human right.Moreover, this freedom is also pertinent to continental economic integration, a vitalprinciple in economic integration initiatives. As the African Economic Community(AEC) diminished in momentum, the African Commission on Human and Peoples'Rights affirmed the right to unrestricted trans-border human mobility and restrictedgovernmental interference in this regard. In 2018, the adoption of the Protocol to theAEC Treaty on the free movement of persons clearly demonstrated the economicdimensions of this fundamental right. Nonetheless, considerable obstacles impede itsexecution. This article doctrinally examines the protocol, assessing its potential foradvancing African integration and development in the Tunisian context. This articlerelies on a human rights perspective in analysing migration governance in Tunisia.