Harare — In October President Kais Saied refused to accept the funds allocated by the European Union to Tunisia, describing it as "charity". This gave the EU a preview of what to expect from its attempt to forge new agreements with African nations to curtail unauthorized immigration from the Mediterranean, Reuters reports.
In an effort to curb the flow of migrants from Tunisia, the European Commission said that it will start allocating the monies stipulated in the deal with that nation.
However, the inadequacies of a programme that rights groups have criticised for disregarding humanitarian concerns, are highlighted by security threats, high costs, a lack of trust, and the inability or unwillingness of African countries to tighten their borders or asylum procedures. Under a hastily negotiated agreement pushed through by the EU in July, Tunisia - whose IMF bailout had stalled - was handed one billion euros in exchange for reducing migration, primarily through economic changes. Saied returned a portion of the first aid tranche after objecting to the conditions.
A rise in irregular entries from 160,000 for the entire year 2022 to 250,000 this year has been reported in the EU, a development that has alarmed Germany and Italy. Despite having accepted millions of refugees fleeing Russia's conflict in neighboring Ukraine, the EU is seeking to limit unauthorised immigration.
According to Tunisia, it has toughened its stance against people smugglers, stopped thousands of maritime departures in the month leading up to October 15, and prohibited over 12,000 people from entering by land. In July 2023, Tunisia deported hundreds of Sub-Saharan African migrants to a desolate area along the border with Libya, following days of violence between migrants and residents in the port city of Sfax.
Meanwhile, the sinking off the Greek coast of a vessel from Libya carrying migrants - in which hundreds of people died - highlighted the crisis generated by conflict, poverty and climate change which leads to up to 100,000 migrants a year trying to reach Europe in unsafe boats.
By the end of June 2023, 289 children had perished in the Mediterranean. As for the Eastern Route from Africa to Yemen, the Mixed Migration Center reported that Saudi border guards are methodically murdering East African migrants on the eastern side of the Mediterranean. In North Yemen, along the border with Saudi Arabia, a covert graveyard containing about 10,000 migrant corpses was found in 2022.
