After a controversial migration agreement in July, Tunisian president, Kais Saied, has rejected millions of Euros in financial aid announced by the European Commission to fight illegal migration and stabilize Tunisia’s economy.
In July 2023, the European Commission signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tunisia, sealing a new strategic partnership with a focus on stopping irregular migration.
However, President Kais Saied of Tunisia has recently rejected the money. Tunisia had initially been promised an aid package worth almost one billion euros, but the European Commission has only announced a payment of around 127 million euros (133 million dollars).
According to Tunis Afrique Presse, Tunisia’s national news agency, President Saied said on October 2nd that “Tunisia, which accepts cooperation, does not accept anything that resembles charity or handouts.”
President Saied continued: “This is not because of the small amount offered […] but because this proposal contradicts the MoU signed in Tunisia and the spirit that prevailed during the Rome Conference.”
Based on the initial migration deal in July 2023, Tunisia would receive financial aid of up to 900 million euros (946 million dollars) and in return it will take stronger action against smugglers and illegal crossings.
Many of the funds designated to fight smuggling in Tunisia
Many of the funds were designated to fight smuggling, support Tunisian law enforcement, and facilitate the return of migrants to their countries of origin. Tunisia is one of the main transit spots for migrants and refugees from Africa that head to Europe, and the European Union wants to ensure that fewer smuggling boats come to Italy via Tunisia.
In September, Italian authorities declared a state of emergency on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa due to the overwhelming accommodation of a large number of asylum seekers on a small island. Around 7,000 migrants arrived in Lampedusa from Tunisia in a few days, while the migrant reception center only has a capacity for 400 migrants.
This has been a recurring crisis as almost exactly ten years ago on October 3rd, 2013 there was a humanitarian crisis following the shipwreck of a migrant boat off of the coast of Lampedusa, resulting in the deaths of at least 368 people.
There were concerns and criticism as to whether the migrant agreement between the EU and Tunisia would respect human rights. The European Ombudsman asked to define criteria for suspending funding if human rights were not respected in Tunisia.
In July, Human Rights Watch released a report detailing documented abuses such as beatings, torture, xenophobia, and arbitrary detention that have been committed against migrants from Africa under the authority of Tunisian police, military, and national coast guards.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen defended that they “have signed a partnership with Tunisia that brings mutual benefits beyond migration; from energy and education, to skills and security.”
“The agreement with Tunisia is vague, long, full of promises, vague and it is not at all clear what Tunisia should actually do. And it is also not clear what the EU really wants Tunisia to do,” criticizes Gerald Knaus, chairman of the human rights think tank European Stability Initiative, on German broadcast ZDF in September. “This is not suitable as a migration agreement.”
