Staff Writer
According to a European source, the European Union wants to establish agreements with Egypt and Morocco that are similar to the one it recently signed with Tunisia and that are focused on combating unauthorized immigration in particular.
On Sunday in Tunis, the EU and Tunisia signed a memorandum of understanding for a “comprehensive strategic partnership” that also covers the nation’s economic growth and renewable energy sources.
In terms of migration, it calls for 105 million euros in European assistance to battle smugglers and stop migrant boats from leaving Tunisian shores for the EU. But also to make it easier for Tunisians who are in an irregular situation in the EU to return here, as well as for Tunisians to return here migrants’ countries of origin, which are in sub-Saharan Africa.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, stated that she hoped the collaboration will serve as a template for such future accords with nations in the area.
According to a senior European official who spoke on the record under the condition of anonymity and emphasized the advantages of this kind of relationship for both sides of the Mediterranean, Egypt and Morocco are two nations that could be impacted.
However, due to the way the government of this Maghreb nation has treated migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, this deal with Tunis has also come under fire.
According to NGOs, hundreds of migrants were detained in Tunisia before being “deported” to hostile regions along the borders with Algeria and Libya. According to telephone testimony gathered by AFP and films supplied to NGOs in Tunisia, women and children are often abandoned in the midst of the desert without access to water, food, or shelter.
The European official emphasized that the agreement called for a number of contracts with various parties, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and that it was “not about signing a check” to the Tunisian authorities.
The agreement reached between the EU and Tunisia on Sunday, witnessed by Ursula von der Leyen, President Kais Saied, as well as the leaders of Italy and the Netherlands, Giorgia Meloni and Mark Rutte, will need to be confirmed by all of the EU’s member states.
While some European nations, like Italy, wished to be able to deport migrants who had only passed through Tunisia, the Tunisian government has made it plain that it does not want to “be a country of settlement for irregular migrants.” Therefore, the agreement exclusively addresses the return of Tunisian nationals who are living illegally in the EU.
Out of the 105 million euros, the protocol agreed to set aside 15 million euros for the “voluntary” return of some 6,000 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa from Tunisia to their home countries.
In addition, the EU plans to provide drones and eight boats for search and rescue missions to the Tunisian coastal authorities.
