By Le Figaro with AFP
Posted 48 minutes ago, updated 48 minutes ago
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. KACPER PEMPEL / Portal
The Italian Prime Minister wants to extend the model agreement signed by the EU with Tunisia to curb the arrival of migrants on the old continent.
Giorgia Meloni invited the Mediterranean countries to an “international conference” in Rome on Sunday to expand the model agreement signed by the EU with Tunisia in order to curb the arrival of migrants on the old continent. The Italian Prime Minister is expecting leaders from the region, the European Union and international financial institutions in the capital, her government said.
Giorgia Meloni has confirmed the presence of Tunisian President Kais Saied, and Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela and Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa al-Madbouly have announced their presence. The guests also include the prime ministers of Algeria, Greece, Jordan and Lebanon, as well as the European heads of state and government, Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen.
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During the 2022 legislative campaign that brought her to power, Giorgia Meloni had promised to stop “the landings” of migrants in Italy. His administration has since stuck sticks in the propellers of humanitarian ships, but without drying up departures.
A declaration of intent with Tunisia
And it’s not the Tunis agreement that will change the situation, argues Federica Infantino, a researcher at the Center for Migration Policy at the European University Institute in Florence. “We cannot think of migration as water from the faucet that we turn on and off to the liking of certain politicians,” she notes. Even if the declared goals are not achieved, “in the eyes of Giorgia Meloni, it is a strong symbolic problem” of domestic politics, notes Federica Infantino.
Around 80,000 people have crossed the Mediterranean Sea and arrived on the coasts of the peninsula since the beginning of the year, according to Rome, compared to 33,000 in the same period last year, mainly from the Tunisian coast.
In light of this observation, Giorgia Meloni and the European Commission, with the support of other EU member states, have intensified their “dialogue” with Tunisia, supporting the country in the face of the International Monetary Fund demanding vigorous reforms in exchange for its help, and promising financial support if the country commits to combating emigration from its territory.
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Brussels and Rome signed a memorandum of understanding with the Tunisian President last week, which in particular provides for European aid of 105 million euros to prevent refugee boats from sailing and to take action against people smugglers. The agreement also provides for increased repatriation of Tunisians in an irregular situation in the EU, as well as the repatriation of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa from Tunisia to their countries of origin.
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“This partnership with Tunisia must be a model for building new relationships with our neighbors in North Africa,” pleaded Giorgia Meloni in Tunis, where she was accompanied by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. A senior EU official, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed that the EU is interested in negotiating similar partnerships with Egypt and Morocco.
“We must work with the countries of North Africa, even if we have to accept that they are not perfect democracies,” added an ambassador based in Rome, who asked not to be identified. “There is unity in the EU on this principle,” he told AFP.
“Crime scene”
The NGOs, on the other hand, are resisting. Sea-Watch regrets that “the EU and its member states are further tightening their deadly lockdown policies.” “The Mediterranean is not just a graveyard, it’s a crime scene,” the organization denounces. “Europe has learned nothing from its complicity in the atrocious abuses against migrants in Libya,” Human Rights Watch said. Migrants would still want to cross the Mediterranean and therefore other solutions must be found, the Europeans argue.
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For the independent researcher Yves Pascouau it is positive that there is a “discussion channel” between Europe and the emigration countries. Nevertheless, it is worrying that from now on migration “is also seen as a problem by the countries of the South”. And as long as migration policy depends on the European interior ministers, the issue will only be dealt with from a security point of view. “What is missing in the relationship between the EU and third countries is long-term thinking,” he regrets.
According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 migrants arrived in Europe by sea from the coasts of North Africa, Turkey and Lebanon in the first six months of 2023. In 2022 it was just over 189,000.