By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK | TUNIS. 24 July 2023 (IDN) — A memorandum of understanding was signed between the European Union and Tunisia to combat irregular migration that has led most recently to the deaths of 29 migrants from impoverished or war-torn countries seeking a better life in Europe.
The memorandum calls for a “strategic and comprehensive partnership” that will also boost economic ties between the bloc and the North African country, which lies on a major route for migrants and refugees travelling to Europe.
The document, signed by European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on one side and Tunisian President Kais Saied on the other. It comes as the number of migrants and refugees departing from Tunisia and trying to reach Europe has significantly increased in recent months.
The Tunisian leader described “inhuman migration”, which he blamed on criminal networks.
After a visit last month by the three European leaders, a financial package was approved that includes a 10-million-euro ($11 million) program to boost exchanges of students and 65 million euros ($73 million) in EU funding to modernize Tunisian schools.
Both sides also agreed to cooperate on border management. Von der Leyen pledged 100 million euros ($112 million) for those efforts—a figure she had already announced on the leaders’ previous visit.
Meanwhile, as of 16 July, the Italian interior ministry counted more than 75,000 migrants who had arrived by boat on the Italian coast since the beginning of the year compared to about 31,900 in the same period last year.
Yasmine Akrimi, a researcher at the Brussels International Center, criticized the memorandum as an attempt at “reshaping African mobility”.
The EU has been trying to achieve this deal for decades, Akrimi said in an interview with Al Jazeera. “Italy wants to consider Tunisia as what they call a safe third country—meaning that everyone who passes through Tunisia can eventually be relocated back to Tunisia.”
Are migrants being used as political pawns? asked the host of the podcast Inside Story. “Kais Saied hoped to clinch a one-billion-dollar EU bailout. And in return, stem the rising migration to Europe.” [IDN-InDepthNews]
Photo: Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (from left to right)
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