In the migration crisis, the Italian government is taking the initiative for larger-scale cooperation with the countries bordering the Mediterranean – that is the signal Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wanted to send on Sunday. Almost single-handedly, Rome organized a conference attended by 13 heads of state and government and the heads of important international organizations such as the refugee agency UNHCR and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Contrary to what was partially announced, however, the heads of government of Greece, Spain and France stayed away, but the EU leadership was represented.
Present for hour-long “working sessions” in the Italian Foreign Ministry, the Farnesina, almost all southern riparian states of the extended Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Arabian Gulf, also states of the Sahel zone and the Horn of Africa, in short: all those states from which the people come, more numerous than ever on the dangerous crossing across the Mediterranean to Europe. This year, more than 85,000 came to Italy via this route, compared to 34,000 in all of 2022.
Meloni emphasized in the evening that they wanted to try together to get “illegal migration” under control and to fight human trafficking, but that this required intensive economic cooperation with the countries from which the refugees come or where they are waiting for their chance to find their way to Europe. Italy wants to act as a bridge across the Mediterranean. The building of partnerships and projects in areas such as agriculture, infrastructure and health were discussed. Further conferences are planned.
Italy and the EU have so far failed to stop the refugees. Most recently, under pressure from Melonis, the EU concluded an agreement specifically with Tunisia, which provides for financial aid if Tunisia in return prevents the refugees from crossing to Europe. Meloni and her Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani have repeatedly been to various African countries to negotiate similar things there.
Migrants are left without water in temperatures well above 40 degrees
However, Libya and Tunisia are already mercilessly implementing the new strategy. Libyan border officials on Friday again observed a group of migrants abandoned by Tunisian authorities in the desert between the two countries. National Guard patrols followed the sub-Saharan people to prevent them from returning to the towns of Sfax and Zarzis. A travel ban on migrants was issued in the two coastal cities last week. However, West African students living legally in Tunisia are also complaining about increasing discrimination against all black people in the country.
The migrants brought by bus from Sfax are left without water and food at temperatures well above 40 degrees. A picture taken by a Libyan army officer of a mother found dead of thirst with her 12-year-old daughter on the Tunisian border sparked outrage on social media.
The emergency quarters set up by aid organizations in schools in the cities of Tataouine and Gen Guardene are to be closed again after protests by the population. “We are constantly on the move,” says Kabao Melgri of the SZ in Sfax. The 34-year-old Guinean migrant says he lost his passport and all his belongings when an angry mob attacked him. “I made my way back to Sfax from the border, now I’m hiding and trying to get a place on a boat to Europe.”
Although the Tunisian authorities had announced that all migrants living illegally in the country would be flown home, this has hardly happened so far. So-called repatriations are usually carried out by the United Nations organizations responsible for refugees and migrant workers; however, these remain largely in the background at present.
“Better get on a boat to Europe,” local UNHCR officials reportedly advised
Because many private aid organizations depend on the large UN organizations for their work on the ground, they rarely criticize their work – this also applies to Libya. But those affected report that the UN organizations are not really helping. And the low number of migrants being repatriated and the continuing inhumane conditions in Libyan prisons confirm that. What’s more: “You’d better get on a boat to Europe,” local UNHCR staff told them, they report: “We can’t protect you from the militias and smugglers.”
The various rulers in Libya are actually already partners of the EU in combating “illegal migration”. Militia leader Khalifa Haftar is the Roman government’s interlocutor, although his army is blamed for various war crimes during the attack on Tripoli. Haftar’s officers are also known to have launched boats carrying Egyptian migrants from Tobruk and other port cities. The difficult economic situation in Egypt leads experts to expect that the number of people fleeing to Europe will soon rise again dramatically.