refugees
Praise and criticism of the EU migration agreement with Tunisia
Mark Rutte (from left), Ursula von der Leyen, Kais Saied and Giorgia Meloni have explored closer cooperation on the issue of migration. photo
© Freek Van Den Bergh/ANP/dpa
Many migrants come to Italy by boat. More and more are crossing over from Tunisia. With a lot of money, the EU manages to reach an agreement with Tunis – but that doesn’t go down well everywhere.
The planned migration agreement between the European Union and Tunisia does not meet with approval everywhere in Germany. However, the federal government is behind the plans, as deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann emphasized on Monday in Berlin.
She said: “In fact, this agreement, which the EU has negotiated and is continuing to negotiate, has the full support of the member states and thus also of the federal government. It was also agreed at the European Council at the end of June.”
A spokesman for the Federal Foreign Office said: “It is of course important that human rights and humanitarian obligations are observed in all measures relating to migration in Tunisia.” Germany will pay particular attention to this when implementing the agreed declaration of intent.
Current reports on the situation of refugees in Tunisia and on how to deal with them “concern us very much,” said the spokesman. He referred to reports of refugees being kidnapped in the Libyan-Tunisian and Algerian-Tunisian border areas.
The EU Commission wants to expand its cooperation with Tunisia on migration policy so that fewer smuggler boats come from there to Italy. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the heads of government of the Netherlands and Italy and Tunisia’s President Kais Saied announced the signing of a corresponding declaration of intent in Tunis on Sunday.
Reactions from Germany
The Greens domestic politician Julian Pahlke called the planned agreement “highly problematic”. He warned: “If an escape route is closed, people will switch to even more life-threatening routes.”
Clara Bünger (left) called on the federal government to oppose the agreement. It is known that Tunisia has abandoned asylum seekers in the desert. Against this background, it is cynical to make the country “Europe’s next bouncer”.
The EU Commission wants to make 105 million euros available for search and rescue operations and the repatriation of migrants and 150 million euros in subsidies for the state budget. In addition, the country can hope for cheap loans of up to 900 million euros for long-term economic and financial stabilization.
The FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai said in the RTL/ntv program “Frühstart” that the EU’s successes in combating irregular migration have so far been modest, “so an agreement like this is very convenient”. The Union faction does not go far enough with the planned agreement.
The group’s domestic policy spokesman, Alexander Throm, said: “Illegal migration from Tunisia to Europe is increasing massively – it is therefore in our interest if the European Commission seeks closer cooperation with Tunisia on this.” But it would be important for the country to take back migrants from other countries who came to Europe via Tunisia.