The European Union and Tunisia have signed this Sunday an agreement to curb migratory flows who leave the North African country for Italy. Brussels will pay more than 100 million to Tunisia to reinforce its borders and prevent the departure of migrants to Europe, as announced by the president of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
Von der Leyen met this Sunday in Tunis with its president, Kais Saiedaccompanied by the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloniand from Dutch mark rutte, the two European leaders most interested in the agreement. This is the trio’s second joint visit to Tunisia, which has served to end a memorandum of understanding between the two parties.
“We need effective cooperation on migration more than ever,” Von der Leyen proclaimed. “We have to put an end to the criminal networks of traffickers, which exploit human hopelessness. And we have to break their irresponsible business model,” says the president of the Commission.
[La UE impondrá multas de 20.000€ por persona a los países que no acepten el nuevo reparto migratorio]
“We will work with Tunisia in an operational partnership against smugglers. We will also increase our cooperation in search and rescue operations and we have agreed that we will collaborate on border management, returns and addressing the causes of migration, fully respecting international law. For this, we will make more than 100 million euros of European funding available,” said Von der Leyen.
Precisely, humanitarian organizations denounce that the president of Tunisia does not respect international law or humanitarian rights in his management of migration. The North African country is currently one of the main exit points on the Central Mediterranean route, the busiest in the entire EU.
“It is vital to work together to try to stop people from making dangerous and often deadly voyages across the Mediterranean to try to reach Europe’s shores. Greater control over irregular immigration is essential“, has pointed out Mark Rutte, whose government has just fallen precisely due to internal discrepancies over migration policy.
“That is why it is so important to have reached concrete agreements with Tunisia to end the business model of human smugglers, strengthen border management and improve registration and returns. These steps will make a difference and underscore the importance of working in similar strategic partnerships between the EU and other countries in the region“, claims the Dutch prime minister.
For his part, Meloni thanked the EU for its support and assured that the agreement with Tunisia will make it possible to face the “migration crisis” and should serve as a “model for building new relationships with neighbors to the south.”
Apart from the migration chapter, the collaboration memorandum signed this Sunday between the EU and Tunisia includes provisions to facilitate interpersonal contacts, boost the economic growth of the North African country or promote renewable energy.
