Brussels knocks once again at the door of Tunis. The President of the European Commission, the Head of the Italian Government, Georgia Meloni and the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, will meet the Head of State Kais Saied in Tunis on Sunday July 16. On the agenda: finalize an agreement providing aid to the country to fight against illegal immigration. Announced on 11 June, the European partnership, which also includes stronger economic and trade ties and cooperation in green energy, is accompanied by financial support amounting to more than one billion euros – including 900 million loans.
On the brink of economic collapse, Tunisia is one of the main places of departure for people trying to reach the European continent. Among them, Tunisians who hope to escape the country’s economic difficulties and migrants from sub-Saharan Africa who are fleeing a xenophobic policy that is increasingly untenable for them. Following clashes that claimed the life of a Tunisian on July 3, hundreds of African migrants were driven out of Sfax, the country’s second city. They were then led by the authorities, according to NGOsto inhospitable areas near Libya to the east, and Algeria to the west.
On Friday July 14, Tunisian NGOs sounded the alarm about the “catastrophic” situation of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, calling for them to “emergency accommodation” in reception centers. They denounce the brutality of the authorities, in what amounts to a “deportation”, without any distinction. Without water, food or shelter in temperatures over 40 degrees, many died, Human Rights Watch said. Between 100 and 150 migrants, including women and children, are still in a militarized zone on the Libyan border, without any help, Romdane Ben Amor, spokesperson for FTDES, a Tunisian NGO specializing in migrations.
“All the NGOs believe that we have in Tunisia a management of migrants which increasingly resembles that of Gaddafi (ex-Libyan dictator)”, estimates with L’Express Vincent Geissier, researcher at the CNRS and the Institute for Research and Studies on the Arab and Muslim Worlds (IREMAM). Witness the remarks made by the Tunisian Head of State last February, where he advocated “urgent measures” against the illegal immigration of sub-Saharan Africans to his country, affirming that their presence was a source of “violence and crimes “. A way also for the Head of State to rid himself of responsibility for the social and political crisis that is plaguing the country, by pointing the finger at migrants. “Tunisia is embarking on a security and identity shift which concerns both Tunisian citizens and migrants”, continues Vincent Geisser.
105 million euros this year
While the Tunisian regime is coming out of the nails of international law, the European Union is choosing this moment to sign a blank check for it. “Officially, the EU wishes to rationalize the control of migratory flows, but this takes place in a hyper-security and police context”, underlines Vincent Geisser. In its agreement, Brussels plans to deliver boats, mobile radars, cameras and vehicles to Tunisia by the summer to help it strengthen control of its maritime and land borders. For these missions, the Old Continent promises to grant, as of this year, an envelope of 105 million euros. In exchange, Europe wants Tunisia to recover the migrants sent back to its shores, even if they are not Tunisians.
Unsurprisingly, this migratory pact is largely supported by Rome. “There is a sharing of the vision of the world between Georgia Meloni and Kais Saied who are both radical nationalists”, indicates Vincent Geisser. Moreover, the Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani, underlined that “Italy has worked hard to reach the agreement, which represents a useful financial commitment for Tunisia to face the necessary reforms with serenity and to be a protagonist in the fight against human traffickers”. In Tunisia, the NGOs denounce “the pressure exerted by the EU on Tunisia within the framework of an unequal and bargained cooperation with a view to imposing on this country its ultra-security policy in terms of immigration”.
For his part, President Saied maintains his image as a strong man. He repeats that Tunisia will not act as Europe’s “border guard” and will not bow to what he describes as the “dictates” of the IMF (the International Monetary Fund). Nevertheless, the point of view of the Tunisian president remains divided, because the public debt of his country is growing from year to year to reach 90% of GDP in 2023. Consequence: the country can no longer borrow abroad. However, the loan from the European Union would be backed by an IMF aid plan, a plan on which Tunis has been negotiating for months. In exchange for a tranche of aid of two billion euros, the IMF is demanding reforms to which Kaïs Saïed is reluctant to submit.
perverse effects
In the short term, the European Union wishes to be able to replicate this agreement with other countries such as Morocco or Egypt. But establishing a partnership with an authoritarian regime like Tunisia could have harmful consequences in the long term. Wouldn’t the risk be to push more people to leave the country? “From a security point of view, giving too much confidence to a regime that uses extralegal methods could cause perverse effects, such as encouraging migrants to embark for Europe in any condition using illegal means. The strategy of ‘too safe’ is not viable, because it does not dry up the migratory flow, on the contrary, it promotes it”, replies Vincent Geissier.
In the meantime, Europe prefers to spare its Tunisian neighbor and seems to turn a blind eye to the xenophobic authoritarian drift in progress. British columnist James Snell, in The Spectator, explained this European benevolence with these words: “The dictators of the southern Mediterranean are somehow necessary for European purposes”, in order to limit “migration from Africa and Arab countries”. A diplomatic waltz played both ways. During the first surprise visit, on June 11, of the Von Der Leyen-Meloni-Rutt trio, the Tunisian head of state wanted to take care of his communication, appearing with the baby of a couple of migrants in a market . A beautiful opening image that contrasts with the reality on the ground.