The 25 men from Egypt, Niger, Nigeria and Sudan had sought asylum in Tunisia after fleeing violence in Libya in 2011, but their requests were denied, said Romdhane Ben Amor of the Tunisian Forum for Social and Economic Rights.

He said their repatriation would “put their lives at risk.”

The Tunisian Cabinet approved on Friday the expulsion “as soon as possible of a group of migrants residing illegally in Tunisia,” the government said in a statement.

Since 2017, the migrants have been living in a youth center in Marsa, a suburb of the capital Tunis, “hindering its activities” by “categorically refusing to leave,” it added. The group, aged 30 to 32, moved to the youth centre after being evacuated from the Choucha refugee camp in southern Tunisia, FTDES said in statement on Sunday, expressing its “indignation at the repressive and inhumane decision by the government.”