The Director of Amnesty International’s Office to the European Institutions, Eve Geddie, does not support the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Tunisia and the European Union (EU) under which, among other things, the EU agrees to grant Tunisia financial and technical assistance with a view to deterring migratory movements towards Europe.
“This ill-advised agreement, signed despite mounting evidence of serious human rights abuses by the authorities, will result in a dangerous expansion of previously failed migration policies and shows that the EU accepts the increasingly repressive behavior of the Tunisian president and government.
According to her, “in a context of escalating violence and abuses committed by the Tunisian authorities against migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, this decision indicates that no lessons have been learned from previous similar agreements. The EU is therefore complicit in the suffering that will inevitably ensue”.
Eve Geddie recalls that when « Tunisia and the EU were preparing to sign this agreement, hundreds of people, including children, remained stranded at the country’s desert borders, initially without water, food or shelter ».
“By focusing policy and funding on containing refugees and outsourcing border controls rather than providing safe and legal routes for those trying to cross borders safely, EU leaders are once again committing to a policy that is doomed to fail, based on a complete disregard for basic human rights standards,” she said.
The indexed memorandum of understanding was signed on Sunday, July 16, by the Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy, Olivér Várhelyi, and the Tunisian Secretary of State to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad, Mounir Ben Rjiba, after a meeting organized with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni , and Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed.
For Amnesty, « this agreement was negotiated without consulting civil society and lacks certain essential human rights guarantees ». The NGO also regrets the fact that no journalist attended the press conference organized by the Tunisian and EU leaders the day after this agreement”.
By OMA Newsletter N° 1253 dated 18/07/2023
Article published under the direction of Dr. Najib Kettani
The OMA, NGO with an Intercontinental vocation
For the development of cultural exchanges
Valuing human potential
The promotion and consolidation of Africa’s development, and
Inter-African integration
