How and why the migrant bomb from Tunisia was born
What happens in Tunisia. Here are the latest news
A busy day of meetings with lots of yellow diplomats yesterday for the EU Commissioner for Economic Affairs Paolo Gentiloni in what is configured to all intents and purposes as an emergency visit to a partner in crisis, Tunisia , which at the moment is not carrying out that crucial role that it is assigned to stem the landings on the Mediterranean coasts, bringing Italy's reception system to its knees and triggering the alarm in the whole of Europe.
Migrant dossiers at the center of the talks, therefore. On the other hand – as Corriere della Sera summarized today – “Over 6,000 migrants have landed in five days. The same number as in the first three months of last year. Four times more. Minister Salvini speaks of an "ongoing attack by the underworld and smugglers".
In the background, as remarked in this article by Start Magazine , there are also tensions between the EU and the US on loans to Tunisia.
Here is the latest news on Tunisia and Commissioner Gentiloni's mission.
Gentiloni's talks and statements
As reported by Agenzia Nova , at the center of the talks with the President of the Republic Kais Saied (suddenly dropped without explanation and then re-emerged, thanks above all to pressure from Italy, on the Commissioner's agenda), with the premier Najla Bouden, with various ministers and with the governor of the central bank, there was, writes the agency, "a potential new European macro-financial assistance to the country, which desperately needs it, and to avoid a wave of migration to the EU".
At the end of the meeting with Saied, Gentiloni announced in a press release that the Commission “is ready to consider additional macro-financial assistance for Tunisia if the necessary conditions are met. The first condition – the press release specified – is the adoption by the International Monetary Fund of a new disbursement programme. It is essential that this happens as soon as possible ”.
“The European Commission – added Gentiloni – remains determined to support the Tunisian people in the current extremely difficult economic context. We want to continue to accompany Tunisia in the creation of real economic growth, new jobs and better prospects for Tunisians, especially for women and young people”.
The concepts reaffirmed to the Minister of Economy
Meeting with the Economy Minister, Samir Said, the former premier underlined that Tunisia's priority in the phase is to make greater efforts to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the short term so as to allow the main partners of the country, especially the European Union, to be able to support the country both financially and technically.
The complaint of the NGO spokesman: human traffickers have intensified their activity
Meanwhile in the North African country, from where departures have multiplied resulting in Tunisia overtaking Libya as the point of origin of migrants reaching Italy, there are those who accuse – again Agenzia Nova to break the news – human traffickers that they are "taking advantage of the situation in the country" to intensify their activities. This was stated by Ramadan Ben Omar, official spokesman of the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES), a non-governmental organization, to the Tunisian news agency "Tap".
Irregular migrations are due, according to Ben Omar, on the one hand "to European policies that limit the movement of migrants", and on the other to the "internal crisis that Tunisia is experiencing in relation to the phenomenon".
According to the FTDES spokesman, after the presidential declarations of February 21, with which Saied had stated that the presence in the country of "hordes" of illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa is a source of "violence and crimes" and is part of a "criminal enterprise" aimed at "changing the demographic composition" of the country, "Tunisia has appeared as a place where irregular migrants from sub-Saharan Africa present on the national territory are rejected. This climate has made these people feel no longer safe and scared and has encouraged them to leave Tunisia".
ALL THE LATEST INSPECTION FROM START MAGAZINE ON TUNISIA AND MIGRANT DOSSIERS:
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This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/tunisia-migranti/ on Tue, 28 Mar 2023 10:34:17 +0000.