The ongoing cooperation between the European Union, EU member states, and Tunisia on migration control, which includes reliance on the possibility to disembark people rescued or intercepted at sea in Tunisia – similar to previous cooperation with Libya – is contributing to human rights violations.
European policies to externalise border management to Tunisia are supporting security authorities who are committing serious violations. They are also obstructing people’s rights to leave any country and to seek asylum, containing refugees and migrants in countries where their human rights are at risk.
Moreover, disembarkation in Tunisia can endanger individuals and expose them to serious harm and further puts refugees and migrants at high risk of collective expulsion to Libya and Algeria, which can violate the principle of non-refoulement.
The establishment on 19 June 2024 of the Tunisian Search and Rescue Region (SRR), called for and supported by the European Commission, risks becoming another tool to violate people’s rights rather than a legitimate fulfilment of the responsibility to protect safety at sea.
Mirroring its cooperation with Libya, the EU and its member states’ engagement with Tunisia may have the effect of normalising serious violations against people seeking protection and undermining the integrity of the international search and rescue system by twisting it to serve migration control purposes.
As humanitarian and human rights organisations, we call on the EU and its member states to terminate their cooperation on migration control with Tunisian authorities responsible for serious human rights violations at sea and in Tunisia. Search and rescue NGOs and commercial ships should not be instructed to disembark anyone in Tunisia.
