Congolese rapper GIMS cancels concert in Tunisia over anti-migrant wave

Congolese singer and rapper GIMS has cancelled his concert in Tunisia in protest of the growing anti-migrant sentiments in the country amid the arbitrary expulsion of hundreds of black migrants to the Sahara borders.

"Children, women and men expelled from Tunisia to Libya live in inhuman conditions. I cannot maintain my visit to Tunisia, scheduled for August 11th," wrote the singer in his Instagram story on Sunday.

Since the start of July, Tunisian authorities have forcibly expelled over thousand sub-Saharan migrants and asylum seekers, including children and pregnant women, to the desert and hostile areas bordering Libya and Algeria after racial unrest in Sfax, Tunisia's second-largest city.

Left beneath the scorching heat of 50 degrees Celcius, at least five migrants died while many others barely hold onto life, with severe injuries and no access to food or water. 

"I don't know where the solutions are. But this extreme distress is unbearable…," the 37-year-old singer added in his Instagram story.

Je ne trouve pas les mots .. 😢@GIMS #Tunisia pic.twitter.com/ccz81jXyM2

— عفاف الغربي (@afefgharbitv) July 31, 2023

GIMS, born Gandhi Djuna in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, arrived in France in 1988 at the age of two with his parents, who were then migrants in an irregular situation.

In his memoir Vise le Soleil (Aim for the Sun), the singer said because of his parents hiding, he spent a difficult childhood between foster families and "squats" (breaking into inhabited houses) until he was 18 years old. 

Today, ranked as one of France's most successful artists, GIMS has failed to obtain French nationality.

French interior minister Gérald Darmanin said last year the rapper's anti-Chrismas comments did not demonstrate "good proof of assimilation into French society." GIMS said he refuses to celebrate Christmas because of his Muslim religion.

The rapper's recent decision not to perform in Tunisia sparked heated debates around the artists' responsibilities in holding their host countries accountable for their politics.

"I'm not a big fan, but GIMS has just taken an extremely courageous position. I am ashamed of what my country does to immigrants. I am ashamed of this normalised racism," wrote Amine Snoussi, a Tunisian journalist and political analyst, on Twitter.

Je ne suis pas particulièrement fan, mais @GIMS vient de prendre une position extrêmement courageuse.

J’ai honte de ce que mon pays fait vivre aux immigrés. J’ai honte de ce racisme normalisé, qui vient nourrir le complotisme jusqu’au sommet de l’Etat. https://t.co/zNP9Zr8heB

— Amine Snoussi (@amin_snoussi) July 31, 2023

"While the EU looks away and lets a racist power that persecutes and throws sub-Saharans into the desert, GIMS takes a stand and cancels his concert in Tunisia. Artists have the power to shake consciences," wrote another Tunisian Twitter user.

Meanwhile, some Tunisians argue that GIMS' decision is an unfair hit against tourism in the struggling North African country.

“(...) To GIMS and to journalists who take a stand against Tunisia, I remind you that Tunisia is also a victim of this migration organised by smugglers and facilitated by Algeria, Libya and African regimes," wrote a Tunisia-based Twitter user.

The organisers of Djerba's Urban Music Festival, in which GIMS was set to perform on 11 August, have yet to comment on the singer's decision.