EU to step up cooperation on migration with Tunisia

European officials visiting Tunisia promised more than a billion euros in financial aid, as well as investments in undersea data cables and renewable energy, in an effort to prevent migration from the North African country’s shores and restore economic stability.

Tunisia’s president received leaders from Italy, the Netherlands, and the European Commission for talks aimed at paving the way for an international financial bailout of the country’s increasingly ailing economy.

The support of Tunisian President Kais Saied is critical to any European Union agreement to reduce migration.

Saied paid an unannounced visit to a migrant camp in the coastal city of Sfax, which serves as a major starting point for boat trips over the Mediterranean to Italy, the day before the discussions.

In his conversations with camp residents, Saied begged for international assistance for the African migrants who use Tunisia as a stopover on their way to Europe.

He said that his nation was not in charge of policing Europe’s borders.

The president and Tunisian Prime Minister Najla Bouden met Sunday (June 11) with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

After the talks, von der Leyen announced a five-point program to support Tunisia, including up to 1.05 billion euros ($1.1 billion in aid for Tunisia’s indebted budget.

The plan will be discussed with all 27 EU countries at their next summit, to take place on June 29 and 30], she said.

In addition to the budgetary aid, the EU is discussing investment in high-speed broadband and other digital infrastructure for Tunisia, and 300 million euros in hydrogen and other renewable energy projects, von der Leyen said.

The plan also includes 100 million euros for Tunisian authorities to carry out search-and-rescue operations for migrants and anti-smuggling operations, she said.

Amid criticism from migrant advocacy groups about forced repatriations, von der Leyen and Rutte insisted the program would respect human rights.

The aim is to “kill that cynical business model of the boat smuggler. Migration is at this moment one of the most important issues facing all of us”, Rutte from the Netherlands said.

Stemming migration is especially important for the far-right Meloni, who was making her second trip in a week to Tunisia.

Italy is the destination for most Europe-bound migrants leaving from the North African nation, whose economy is teetering toward collapse.

Meloni welcomed Sunday’s announcements and said she hoped they paved the way for Tunisia to receive $1.9 billion in stalled International Monetary Fund support.

Saied has balked at conditions for the IMF money, which include cuts to subsidies on flour and fuel, cuts to the large public administration sector, and the privatization of loss-making public companies.

The president warns such moves would unleash social unrest, and bristles at what he calls Western diktats.

The population is already restive, and some of them disillusioned with both Saied’s leadership and the country’s decade-long experiment with democracy.

That has pushed more and more Tunisians to risk dangerous boat journeys across the Mediterranean to seek a better life in Europe.

Tunisia is also a major transit point for others seeking to migrate: sub-Saharan Africans make up the majority of those who leave from Tunisia’s shores.

Saied has said that addressing his country’s problems requires not only improved security but also “tools to eliminate misery, poverty and deprivation.”

The Fitch ratings agency further downgraded Tunisia’s default rating Friday, meaning the country is inching closer to potentially defaulting on its debt.

The agency cited the government’s failure to pursue the reforms needed to free up the IMF funds.

Tunisia’s budget deficit was aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic and fallout from the war in Ukraine, and the IMF aid was stalled amid political tensions and Saied resistance to the required reforms.

Saied disbanded parliament and had the constitution rewritten to give more power to the presidency, and has overseen a crackdown on opposition figures and independent media.

Saied said Tunisia is struggling to cope with migrants from other African countries who settle in Tunisia or transit through, and called for international aid to fight migrant smuggling networks that “consider these immigrants as merchandise thrown into the sea or the sands of the desert.”

Italy’s Interior Ministry said that between January and June over 50-thousand migrants have arrived by boat in Italy, compared to just over 20-thousand in the same period in 2022.

Tunisians make up 7% of the total but migrants of other nationalities are increasingly departing from Tunisia rather than Libya.