Amnesty lambasts EU for Tunisia anti-migration deal ‘despite mounting evidence of human rights abuses’

Amnesty International has called the EU-Tunisia strategic deal on migration and economy “ill-judged” and said it has been signed “despite mounting evidence of serious human rights abuses by authorities.”

The rights group further said the agreement will result in a “dangerous expansion of already failed migration policies and signals EU acceptance of increasingly repressive behaviour by Tunisia’s president and government.”

A “strategic partnership” deal has been signed in which the European Commission will provide €675 million to Tunisia to curb migration, combat human traffickers, tighten borders, and support the economy of the North African country.

It will also be used to finance projects for underwater fibre-optic and electricity cables between the EU and North Africa.

The €675 million will come from the EU budget under the European Sustainable Development Fund and includes €150 million of direct budget support.

“Coming against a backdrop of escalating violence and abuses against sub-Saharan African migrants by Tunisian authorities, the decision shows no lessons have been learned from previous similar agreements. This makes the European Union complicit in the suffering that will inevitably result,” Amnesty International’s Advocacy Director at the organisation’s European Institutions Office, Eve Geddie said.

“At the same time as Tunisia and the EU were preparing to sign this agreement, Tunisian authorities left hundreds of people including children stranded at Tunisia’s desert borders, initially without water, food or shelter,” Geddie alleged.

“By focusing their policies and funding on containment and on outsourcing of border control rather than ensuring safe and legal routes for those trying to cross borders safely, EU leaders are once again embarking on failed policies that are based on callous disregard for basic human rights standards, Geddie said.

Meanwhile, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the deal contains agreements on disrupting the business model of people smugglers and human traffickers, strengthening border control and improving registration and return. All essential measures for bolstering efforts to stop irregular migration.

In the recent months, thousands of undocumented African migrants have flocked to the city of Sfax, seeking to head for Europe in traffickers’ boats, amounting to an unprecedented migration crisis for Tunisia.

As per official data, as on July 14 this year, around 75,065 boat migrants had reached Italy as against 31,920 in the same period last year. More than half left from Tunisia, overtaking Libya, which has traditionally been the main launchpad.

With inputs from agencies