Human rights groups ask EU to stop cooperation on migration control with Tunisia

Human rights organisations are calling on the EU to stop cooperation with Tunisia on migration control, insisting the north African state should not be considered safe.

In a statement on Monday, the organisations called on the EU to provide safe routes for people wanting to leave Tunisia and stop border control funding to the country.

They raised concerns over Tunisia’s treatment of black immigrants and Tunisian citizens opposed to the current regime, which is increasingly becoming authoritarian.

“We ask the authorities of the European Union and its member states to stop their cooperation with Tunisian authorities on migration control. We also ask to stop their financial and technical support to the Tunisian Coast Guard, and provide safe routes for all,” the organisations said.

The statement comes amid an increase in irregular boat departures from Tunisia towards the Italian island of Lampedusa. The concerns are twofold: Tunisian immigrants who actually make it to the EU are not afforded international protection and repatriated back to their country; the Tunisian coast guard intercepts boats and forces them to return back.

The organisations claimed that people rescued at sea and returned back to Tunisia are at “high risk” of being subjected to human rights violations and detention, irrespective of whether they are Tunisian citizens or not.
They insisted that disembarkation in Tunisia of people rescued at sea violates international human rights and maritime law.

“In this way, the EU is supporting a Tunisian actor whose human rights violations against people on the move are well documented: the Tunisian Coast Guard,” they said, arguing that the number of interceptions and pullbacks by the Tunisian Coast Guard has increased enormously in recent years.

They estimated that in the first quarter of 2023 alone, 14,963 people were prevented from leaving Tunisia by sea and were “violently towed back against their will on behalf of the EU”.  Last December, more than 50 associations denounced the violence of the Tunisian Coast Guard, accusing them of beating people with sticks, firing shots in the air or in the direction of the engine, knife attacks, dangerous manoeuvres to attempt to sink boats, and demanding money in exchange for rescue.

“These attacks have accelerated in recent months, targeting both Tunisian and non-Tunisian migrants and it has recently been documented that the Tunisian Coast Guard steals the engines of boats trying to escape the country, leaving people on board adrift while watching, which has led to preventable deaths at sea,” the organisations said.

Tunisia is ruled by President Kais Saied who suspended parliament and has increasingly adopted authoritarian powers by suppressing opponents and limiting freedom of speech.

Last February, Saied delivered an inflammatory speech in which he targeted black immigrants in Tunisia. This led to discriminatory and racist abuse against sub-Saharan migrants in the country.

The organisations denounced the EU’s agreements with Tunisia for the joint management of migration through border controls and repatriation of citizens.

Between 2016 and 2020, more than €37 million from the EU Trust Fund for Africa were granted to Tunisia for the “management of migration flows and borders”, the groups said, adding that more millions were earmarked for the process.

The statement was signed by 69 organisations from various countries, including Tunisia, Italy and Malta.