Tunisia vows not to become ‘reception center’ for returning migrants
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Tunisia has said it will not be a “reception centre” for returns of sub-Saharan migrants from Italy or any other country in Europe despite a groundbreaking €1bn deal signed on Sunday.
Authorities in the north African country are determined not to enter a contract similar to that which the UK has with Rwanda and will take back only Tunisians who have made irregular entry to the EU.
This appears to be a setback for the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, who won significant compromises last month in the wording of draft migration legislation that would enable authorities to return people to countries they were smuggled through even if they were in the country for only a few days or weeks.
A senior EU official confirmed the tough line taken by the Tunisian president, Kais Saied, who had previously warned the EU that Tunisia would not act as the EU’s “border guard”.
The source said: “That is a point on which the Tunisian authorities feel they have communicated this clearly – that they … shouldn’t be a reception point for irregular migrants generally coming from Europe.”
Potentially it could still mean significant numbers of people being returned to Tunisia.
About 8,000 people arrived irregularly in the EU from Tunisia in April, 1,000 in May and 5,000 in June.
A pact on migration was signed on Sunday night after a flying visit to Tunisia by the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, Meloni and the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, their second trip in five weeks.
It includes a deal to return thousands of Tunisian migrants who take the dangerous trip across the Mediterranean to Italy, along with a new initiative to accelerate legal routes for Tunisians to work or study in the EU. As part of the agreement, €105m will be allocated to help Tunisia deal with people smugglers.
Around €15m will be available to deliver contracts with humanitarian organisations such as the Red Crescent to transport and support migrants who wish to return to their home countries.
Photo: Would-be migrants from Tunisia arrive by boat on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, Italy. EPA/CIRO FUSCO
