Al Jazeera Net correspondents
Tunisia- The multiplication of operations preventing irregular migrants from crossing the Italian coast from Tunisia since the beginning of this year reflects the involvement of the Tunisian regime in the security approach in the Mediterranean imposed by the European Union in exchange for the material and political support that he receives, according to observers.
Since last June, Tunisian authorities have not released any information on the number of operations aimed at thwarting incidents of irregular migration, but this silence was broken by Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantidosi, when he recently revealed that more than 61,000 migrants seeking to cross the border into Italy have been prevented.
The statement sparked the ire of human rights activists working on immigration issues. The spokesperson for the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (a non-governmental organization), Ramadan Ben Omar, said: “It is regrettable that the Tunisian authorities are hiding the results of this security work from the media and presenting them to their counterpart Italian. .”
European support
This result is slightly higher than the operations aimed at thwarting irregular migration observed during the same period last year, according to Ben Omar in his interview with Al Jazeera Net. He said the strengthening of maritime controls to prevent migrants “reflects the Tunisian regime’s adoption of the European Union’s security approach to prevent migrant flows.”
He believes that the fact of having prevented more than 61,000 migrants from crossing the border into Italy via Tunisia is the result of the help provided by the European side at the logistical level, such as boats, and financial support, budgetary and political direct to the Tunisian regime, “despite the recorded violations.
Not only do the Tunisian authorities engage in this security approach in terms of interception of irregular migrant boats at sea to prevent them from crossing the border, but they also engage in systematic expulsions of all intercepted migrants towards the borders. Algerian and Libyan, according to him.
Ben Omar confirms that the humanitarian cost is enormous due to the fact that the Tunisian authorities adopt this security approach in exchange for the financial and political support of the European side, stressing that the latter asked Tunisia a few days ago to investigate the allegations of sexual assault. against migrants in Tunisia.
Regarding this assertion, he declared: “It is impudence because we consider that the Union and the authorities are partners in all the violations that migrants face in Tunisia”, accusing the European Union of providing support material and political cover for the repressive practices of the Tunisian authorities, as he said.
Right-wing program
For his part, Khaled Al-Tababi, researcher in sociology at the Faculty of Human and Social Sciences of Tunisia, affirms that the “extreme right party (Brothers of Italy)”, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, has largely succeeded in carrying out its electoral programs to reduce immigration flows.
Al-Tababi confirms that the immigration policies carried out by the European Union to strengthen maritime control in the Mediterranean have resonated with the Tunisian regime thanks to the support it receives on the financial, logistical and political levels, particularly after the memorandum of understanding. agreement signed in 2023.
In July 2023, the Union signed a memorandum of understanding with Tunisia under which it would provide financial assistance to the struggling Tunisian economy, in addition to a financial package to combat irregular migration. Tunisian President Kais Saied has been criticized by the opposition over the deal.
According to some observers, the agreement demonstrates the alignment of the European Union with a president whose opponents consider that he has established an individual regime and aborted the path of democratic transition in the country, but his supporters see in this agreement a common interest in protecting national security between the two countries. both parties.
Sovereignty lost
Al-Tababi told Al-Jazeera Net that the available data on the prevention of irregular migrants by Tunisian authorities at sea contradicts President Saied’s speeches regarding the unacceptability of playing the role of guarding the European Union’s borders, national sovereignty and immigration issues.
According to him, the direct consequence of Tunisia’s involvement in the policy of strengthening maritime control in the Mediterranean will be a further deterioration of the democratic system and the protection of human rights, considering that “the conditions of immigration conflict with the conditions of democracy and always lead to the rise of tyranny.
The latest study on the situation of migrants carried out by the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights, active in the field of migration, revealed that 60% of the migrants surveyed arrived in Tunisia mainly via the Algerian border, and a smaller percentage via the Tunisian-Libyan border.
These African migrants who wish to cross European coasts – according to the study – come from 23 African countries, most of them on foot from Sudan, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast. Most of them are stationed in the Al-Amra region, in Sfax governorate, overlooking the Mediterranean.