2023-09-19 16:29:28
► “Deal with the Tunisian regime on the basis of a balance of power”
Bernard Guetta, MP and member of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the European Parliament (Renew group)
“The approach is good, even if the specific case is questionable. It is good because we will not be able to control the arrivals of migrants – which are taking place today in an anarchic manner – if we do not negotiate agreements with African and Middle Eastern governments relating to the control of departures, and also on a contribution to the industrialization of Africa.
As long as young Africans do not have the hope of finding work at home, they will continue to look at the European Union as a promised land to which nothing will stop them from going. The European Union must therefore negotiate short, medium and long term agreements with African governments: and this is what I defend within Parliament.
However, in the negotiations with Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed, we are far too weak towards him, while he is blackmailing the EU with unacceptable cynicism and brutality. He wants us to plug the holes he created in the Tunisian budget and economy. And at the same time, he deliberately allows massive departures to be organized towards the Italian coasts, and in particular towards Lampedusa, of young Tunisians and Africans from the Sahel or nationals of West Africa. We must not let ourselves be intimidated by this blackmail and know how to say “no” when necessary.
However, it must be recognized that the European Union’s room for maneuver is diminishing, because it is difficult to require a government to both respect human rights and control flows migratory. The way to emerge from this contradiction is first of all to remain united, among Europeans, to confront this situation. And first of all in solidarity with the countries of the Mediterranean coast, so as not to leave them alone in the face of this too heavy burden.
And in the medium and long term, we must work on agreements to relocate to the African continent as large a part as possible of the labor-intensive industries that had left for Asia. It is in the interest of Europeans for three reasons, and firstly so as not to continue to enrich and strengthen China, which is a competitor, if not a strategic adversary. Furthermore, the damage to the environment will be less if we import a certain number of products from Africa rather than from Asia. Finally, young people who find work in Africa will not be tempted to leave their city, their village, their family or their country.
We must therefore deal with the Tunisian regime, as well as with a certain number of other similar regimes, while being aware that we cannot do so on the basis of a relationship of trust… but on that of balance of power . »
► “This will give impetus to repression”
Romdhane Ben Amorspokesperson for the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES)
“We must understand that the policy chosen by the Tunisian authorities to fight against what they call “non-regulatory migration” can be summed up in one word: repression. Since the beginning of the year, the behavior of the authorities has been very repressive and discriminatory, especially since the President of the Republic’s speech on February 21 – in which he mentioned “a criminal plan to change the composition of the demographic landscape in Tunisia”, Editor’s note.
At sea, we also note a change in the behavior of the coast guard, as witnessed by migrants on social networks. The police carry out very dangerous operations for migrants, causing tragedies. If the European Union wants to strengthen this policy, it is because it coincides with its own approach in the central Mediterranean: the EU does not contribute to rescues at sea, blocks the work of humanitarian operations and NGOs.
Application of the July memorandum between the European Union and Tunisia(a memorandum of understanding relating to the fight against irregular immigration, renewable energies and the economic development of the country, Editor’s note) will not have an automatic effect on the arrivals of migrants in Tunisia from the Algerian borders. Nor on departures from Tunisia, due to the deterioration of the economic, social and political environment. Patrols, radars or drones will not overcome the desire for mobility. Smuggler networks will always find solutions to escape this security system.
Furthermore, the application of this memorandum could threaten the rule of law in Tunisia, by giving legitimacy to a regime which no longer stigmatizes only political parties but also civil society, and which criminalizes solidarity with migrants. This will give impetus to develop other repressive initiatives, especially towards this civil society which expresses its support for migrants.
But we have seen it in Libya, Turkey, and even the Canary Islands: EU security practices always push migrants to choose new routes. The responsibility is certainly European, with these policies aimed at hindering human mobility. But Tunisia also contributed to creating this crisis, by establishing state racism after the speech of February 21, with the adoption of discriminatory laws preventing sub-Saharan migrants from renting houses, working or taking public transport , particularly in the Sfax region.
Any agreement with the EU that threatens the rights of migrants should be revised, just as readmission agreements that threaten the rights of migrants in Europe should be revised. »
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