Agreement between EU and Tunisia on migration raises concerns
ROME (AA) – The EU and Tunisia have signed a €1 billion deal to cooperate on stemming the flow of migrants to Europe.
The agreement has drawn criticism from human rights groups, as it could lead to serious rights violations.
Under the memorandum of understanding (MoU) – signed after a crucial meeting between EU Commission head Ursula von der Leyen, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Tunisian President Kais Saied – Brussels agreed to give Tunis financial and technical support to “deter” Europe-bound migration, which has been increasingly originating from Tunisian shores.
The deal includes provisions to prevent migrants from entering Europe irregularly.
It also provides for the repatriation of Tunisian nationals who are in Europe illegally and facilitation of the repatriation of migrants of other nationalities to third countries.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has been a strong supporter of the agreement, said it could become “a “model” for future agreements with other countries.
On Sunday, the Italian prime minister hosted a daylong summit on migration attended by leaders from some 20 Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries.
Human rights groups say the agreement comes amid reports of escalating violence and mistreatment of sub-Saharan African migrants by Tunisian authorities.
Eve Geddie, director for Europe at Amnesty International, called the agreement “ill-advised” and a “dangerous extension of an already failed migration policy.”
She added that the agreement “is a sign that the EU accepts the increasingly repressive behavior of the Tunisian president and government.”
“This ill-judged agreement, signed despite mounting evidence of serious human rights abuses by authorities, will result in a dangerous expansion of already failed migration policies and signals EU acceptance of increasingly repressive behavior by Tunisia’s president and government,” Eve Geddie, Amnesty International’s advocacy director for Europe, said in a statement.
“At the same time, as Tunisia and the EU were preparing to sign this agreement, Tunisian authorities left hundreds of people, including children, stranded at Tunisia’s desert borders, initially without water, food or shelter,” she added, noting that the deal would make the EU “complicit in the suffering that will inevitably result.”
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