Tunisia is not a safe place – human rights violations and racism threaten the lives of people on the move. Despite countless reports about the situation, the EU is specifically funding and supporting the expansion of the Tunisian search and rescue zone and the national guard.
As a reminder: Tunisia is not a safe harbour for people on the move or the civil population. Tunisia is not a safe country of origin. Tunisia is not a safe third country.
The EU, Italy, and Germany are sending hundreds of millions of euros to Tunisia to finance the border violence. Radar systems, surveillance equipment, and training for the Tunisian National Guard are examples of the EU’s isolationist policy.
EU support for Tunisia is fuelling the brutal oppression of people seeking protection! Normalized violence, destroyed lives, violated rights – these are the real costs. More people are being beaten up, put in prison-like camps, and left to die in the desert – all made possible by the EU.
The establishment of the Tunisian “search and rescue zone” is not about saving lives. It is solely about keeping people away from Europe – at any cost. By formally recognizing and legitimizing Tunisia’s role in the Mediterranean, the EU is complicit in illegal pullbacks and detentions. People are being held in camp-like prisons or left to die in the desert.
Despite the numerous documented human rights violations and numerous warnings about the growing racism against Black people and people on the move in Tunisia in particular, the EU has not backed down from paying over €150 million to seal off the country. The aim? To prevent people from fleeing to Europe. Violence, torture, abuse, abduction – all of this was knowingly accepted.
