Jul 16, 2023 at 6:22 PMUpdate: 5 minutes ago
The European Union and Tunisia have reached an agreement on migration. In exchange for financial support, the Tunisian government will take measures to stop the illegal crossing of migrants across the Mediterranean.
Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte flew to the North African country together with President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Sunday to remove the last obstacles to the deal. There was already optimism beforehand that an agreement would be reached.
“A true milestone,” says Rutte on Twitter about the deal. According to him, the agreements on migration are essential to “get a better grip on the fight against irregular migration”. They can break the business model of smugglers and traffickers, strengthen border management and improve the registration and return of migrants.
For Tunisia, the deal provides money for digitization, modernization of education and sustainable energy projects, among other things.
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Rutte, Von der Leyen and Meloni were also in Tunisia more than a month ago. Then they failed to reach an agreement on migration with Tunisian President Kais Saied.
Tunisia was already promised 900 million euros in financial aid if a deal was reached. In addition, EUR 100 million would soon be made available for border control and the return of migrants. The country immediately received 150 million euros to implement economic reforms.
According to insiders, one of the problems was that much of EU money consists of loans linked to a $1.9 billion reform program from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Tunisia did not like these reforms. The spending of the 100 million euros for border control was also still under negotiation.
The Tunisia deal is now being presented to the EU countries. Rutte expects many of them to agree to the agreement.
Brussels then hopes to reach comparable migration agreements with more countries. It is a “model for a new relationship with countries in North Africa,” Meloni said of the agreement with Tunisia. The EU already signed a migration deal with Turkey in 2016.
Refugee organizations are critical
Not everyone is happy with the deal. For example, the Dutch Council for Refugees, the Refugee Foundation and Amnesty International are very critical. It is completely unbelievable that the human rights of refugees and migrants will be respected in Tunisia, no matter how much money is involved.
According to the organization, black Africans are already being blamed for the country’s many problems and are facing racial violence and discrimination.
The Refugee Foundation calls for “no deals with dictators on the backs of refugees and migrants”. Director Tineke Ceelen writes on Twitter that the autocratic president Saied is a man who “puts opposition behind bars, calls for violence against migrants, makes life miserable for media and aid organizations and leaves people without water in the desert”.
Amnesty believes that people smugglers in particular will benefit. “As long as there are no legal migration routes, refugees and migrants will continue to count on people smugglers.”
Tunisia as an important transit country for migrants
Tunisia is an important transit country for migrants. They often leave from there by boat to Europe, mainly to Italy. They usually then travel on to other Member States.
The crossing is not without danger. Nearly 2,000 people have died or gone missing this year crossing from North Africa to Europe, according to the International Organization for Migration.
2023-07-16 19:19:01
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