Migrants at greater risk of abuse after ‘ill-judged’ EU-Tunisia deal, experts warn

ROME (AA): In mid-July, the EU finalized a much-anticipated agreement with Tunisia to cooperate on curbing a surge in migration flows to Europe’s Mediterranean shores, but international law experts and humanitarian groups warn that the €1 billion ($1.11 billion) deal could lead to severe rights violations instead of helping solve complex issues.

Under the memorandum of understanding (MoU) – signed after a 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.

According to the few details made public, the deal aims to prevent migrants from reaching Europe irregularly; increase returns of Tunisian citizens who have no permission to stay in Europe; and facilitate repatriation from Tunisia to third countries of migrants of other nationalities.

Human rights organizations, however, say the agreement comes amid reports of escalating violence and abuses against sub-Saharan African migrants by Tunisian authorities.

This could lead to an increasingly critical situation for migrants departing from the country, replicating the problems that stemmed from similar agreements with Libya over the past few years.

“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.”

The Tunis memorandum was strongly championed by Italian Premier Meloni, whose far-right government has long vowed to stop surging migration flows to Italy’s southern shores.

Meloni hailed the deal, suggesting it could become “a model” for future agreements with other Maghreb countries and the entire African continent.

Human rights violations

In recent months, Tunisia has overtaken Libya as the primary departure point in North Africa for people seeking protection in Europe.

“The agreement with Tunisia is certainly operational, but this doesn’t mean it will have the success hoped for by the EU Commission and by the Italian and Dutch governments,” Christopher Hein, professor of policy on migration and asylum at Rome’s LUISS University, said.

“From the few details we have as of now, I can predict potential breaches of the Geneva Convention for Human Rights, possible violations of EU directives on migration and even a conflict with the Italian Constitution, for Italy’s part,” said Paolo Iafrate, migration law professor at Rome’s Tor Vergata University.

Under the MoU, the EU will partner with Tunisia on border management, including providing radars, ships and other equipment to the Tunisian Coast Guard, to counter people smuggling. They also plan to cooperate on expanding legal pathways to Europe, despite most EU states’ failure to fulfil their pledges to bring people to safety through existing routes.

Tunisia has made clear it does not plan to become a “reception center” for returns of sub-Saharan migrants from Italy or any other country in Europe. This means that Tunis will take back only its citizens who have made irregular entry to the EU.

“Do the EU and Italy really want to replicate the model of the past agreements with Libya?” Hein asked.

“It’s not just a matter of whether or not it will be successful … It is a concrete act of externalization of the responsibilities of the European Union, which is not acceptable.”