Tunisia: Italy PM talks migration in state visit
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni praised Tunisia and her country’s shared priorities on fighting human trafficking and repatriating African migrants to their home nations in an April 17th state visit, according to AP. The PM, stressed that the North African country “cannot become the arrival point to migrants coming from the rest of Europe.”
On her fourth Tunisian state visit in the past year, Italy’s PM sidestepped existing tensions over how to manage Mediterranean migration.
Meloni and Tunisia’s President Kais Saied signed a new set of accords as part of Italy’s “Mattai Plan”, an Africa-wide strategy aimed at expanding economic opportunities and preventing migration to Europe.
Prior to her Tunisia visit, Meloni told AFP that “it remains essential that Tunisian authorities continue their action to combat human trafficking and contain illegal departures.”
While European leaders often frame migration as primarily a human trafficking issue, nearly 16,000 migrants have made the treacherous journey from North Africa to Italy so far in 2024 for a variety of reasons, embarking from Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya.
READ: Italian coast guard rescues 22 migrants, 9 bodies found
As of April 15th, less than half the number of migrants had arrived in Italy in 2024, compared with the same period of 2023 according to figures from the UN refugee agency. The reduction is partly due to the efforts of Tunisia’s border patrol, which has intercepted around 21,000 migrants this year alone.
Saied has long insisted that he is unwilling to allow Tunisia to become Europe’s “border guard,” nor accept migrants being deported back to Africa. Meloni humoured Saied’s stance, stating in a video address that “Tunisia cannot be a country of arrival for migrants” from the rest of Africa, according to AFP.
Albania committed to hosting up to 36,000 migrants rescued from the Mediterranean annually in a February 23rd dead with Italy, with strong opposition from human rights groups.
READ: Migrants in Tunisia react to Albania Italy deal
Italy and its European partners have pledged significant financial support to North African countries, to help prevent migration and trafficking. Most of the 1 bn euros ($1.1 bn) promised to Tunisia is contingent on the country reaching an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), on a bailout package that may require painful spending cuts.
AP / AFP
