Tunisia, Libya Unite for Border Migrant Refuge
Tunisia and Libya have said they had decided to split the cost of housing hundreds of migrants who were stuck at their borders, many of whom had been there for more than a month, according to a number of international news agencies. .
The news will come as welcome relief to both the EU and the government of Tunisia which has been in the news due to a constant stream of stories about migrants suffering and sometimes even dying on the border.
According to witnesses, rights organisations, and UN agencies, the migrants, who were mostly from sub-Saharan African nations, had been taken by Tunisian authorities to the desert region of Ras Jedir and left there to fend for themselves, according to AFP.
READ:27 migrants found dead in desert near Tunisia-Libya border
Faker Bouzghaya, a spokesman for the interior ministry of Tunisia, stated that “we have agreed to share the groups of migrants who are at the border” during a joint meeting with the Libyan authorities in Tunis.
Specifically speaking, Tunisia will take charge of a group of 76 men, 42 women and eight children,” Bouzghaya told AFP.
On 9 August 2023, the groups were moved to receiving centres in the cities of Tatouine and Medenine, where they received medical and psychological assistance from the Tunisian Red Crescent, Bouzghaya claimed.
Being in coincidence with the Tunisian initiative, Libya has taken responsibility for the remaining 150 migrants, as confirmed by humanitarian sources. The bilateral accord, declared by the Libyan interior ministry earlier on the same day, aims to effectively resolve the situation of irregular migrants stranded along the border area.
READ:41 dead as migrant boat capsizes in Tunisia
According to Human Rights Watch, Tunisian security forces forcibly transferred up to 1,200 Africans to desert border regions with Libya and Algeria or evicted up to that many. According to the testimonies of a humanitarian worker, up until Wednesday, 50 people per day were arriving in Al-Assah in Libya and then being saved by Libyan troops. The UN has harshly criticised the Libyan government for alleged violence against migrants, who make up about 600,000 of the population in this war-torn North African country.
Due to documented cases of violence against migrants, who make up about 600,000 of the country’s present population and are affected by the conflict, Libyan authorities are receiving strong condemnation from the UN. The key embarkation grounds for migrants and asylum seekers, who embark on perilous sea voyages aboard frequently unsteady vessels in search of better chances in Europe, are both Libya and another country in North Africa. The central Mediterranean route, which the UN has dubbed the world’s most dangerous migrant route, claims hundreds of lives every year. Alarming data from the International Organisation for Migration show that over 1,800 people have died due to the route’s perilous waters just this year, reported by Euronews.
