Tunisia agrees deal with EU to tackle Mediterranean migration routes

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The EU and Tunisia have agreed to cooperate to stem migration as part of an economic aid package, which follows Brussels’ growing effort to cooperate with third countries to reduce the number of people reaching its shores. signal.

Tunisian President Kais Saied signed a memorandum of understanding with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the Dutch and Italian prime ministers, Mark Rutte and Giorgia Meloni, in Tunis on Sunday, which includes more than €100mn to strengthen border controls Is.

“We need to crack down on the criminal networks of smugglers and smugglers,” von der Leyen said, adding that the cooperation would address “the root causes in full respect of international law.”

The European Union, especially Italy, is concerned that the deteriorating state of the economy in Tunisia may prompt more people to try to cross the Mediterranean Sea. So far this year, more than 75,000 people have arrived in Italy by boat, according to the interior ministry, more than double the number for the same period last year. A sharp increase in yachts leaving from Tunisia has been a factor behind this growth.

The agreement includes “procurement, training and technical assistance to further improve Tunisian border management”. It also envisages facilitating the return of Tunisian migrants from the European Union to Tunisia and the repatriation of migrants in Tunisia to their country of origin. Also, it mentions promoting legal channels for migration “including seasonal employment opportunities”.

The deal is part of an EU offer of more than €1 billion in June to aid Tunisia’s troubled economy and address the growing number of people coming to Europe. However, the bulk of that offer – up to €900mn – is linked to a $1.9bn IMF reform package, which Said has yet to agree. Until then, the EU will provide additional budget support, von der Leyen said, which was previously set at €150mn.

After the signing, Sayeed suggested he was still opposed to the IMF reform package. He added that “there is a need to find new ways of cooperation outside the global financial system”.

The agreement also calls for greater cooperation between the EU and Tunisia on trade and investment, including in agriculture and clean water, digitization and green energy.

Allegations of rights abuses and mistreatment of migrants by Tunisian authorities have prompted criticism of the agreement, including from EU lawmakers. Said has repeatedly said that migrants from sub-Saharan Africa are part of a conspiracy to change the demographic composition of his country, fueling racist violence.

Earlier this month, Tunisian authorities drove 500 to 700 people from sub-Saharan Africa to the remote desert border with Libya and left them there without food, water or medical care. He was arrested after a clash between sub-Saharan Africans and Tunisian residents in the coastal city of Sfax. A few days later, the authorities allowed the Tunisian Red Crescent to deliver aid supplies, and within a week reports said they were being delivered to cities in the south of Tunisia.

Italy’s Meloni said the agreement with Tunisia should serve as a model for similar agreements with North African countries, as the EU looks to its neighbors for help managing migration. In 2016, the EU signed a similar but less comprehensive agreement with Turkey.

Rights campaigners and lawyers have said that agreements with third countries on migration have not always been effective and have contributed to violations.

Imogen Sudberry of the International Rescue Committee said, “Strengthening state security apparatus and border controls of third countries does not stop migration, it forces asylum seekers and migrants to take longer and more dangerous routes.”

“Arrival has become much more difficult, which means that smuggling networks are really driven by those policies. , , More people have been put at risk,” said Minos Mouzourakis, legal officer at Refugee Support Aegean.

He said that relying on authoritarian regimes to manage migration “creates political dependence”.

Regarding the EU-Turkey deal, he said, “Turkey no longer re-admits people from Greece, and migration is often used as a bargaining chip in all kinds of other discussions on possible concessions from either side”. “

Activists are also concerned that such agreements could reduce access to asylum hearings generally. There is no functioning asylum system in Tunisia, meaning that those seeking protection usually have to rely on the mission of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees or travel to other countries.

“There is an asylum process in the EU, but there are all kinds of structures, agreements and procedures in place to prevent anyone in the EU from claiming that right,” said Stephanie Pope of the non-governmental organization Oxfam.