Migrants, the alarm of the Services for the spring: "Landings on the rise powder keg Tunisia"
by Giuliano
Foschini
A network with
Italian mafias re-emerges. The
report of the Services: Moscow wants a long war, cyber alert
FEBRUARY 28, 2023
UPDATED 10:51
P.M.
They arrived in 14,433, in the first two months of 2022
they were 5,474. "+ 164 percent" is pinned in internal documents.
More than half, 8,578, come from a single country: Tunisia, along a route that
is certainly not new but that to stay in the last two years had given very
different figures: 1,665 landings in 2021, 1,077 just in 2022.
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TUNISIA IN FOCUS
GENTILONI’S SENSITIVE MISSION: Europe’s Economy
Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni is heading to Tunisia today to discuss EU
financial assistance. The mediterranean country, once the most hopeful nascent
democracy after the Arab Spring, descended into turmoil after President Kais
Saied orchestrated what critics describe as a coup. “We want to help Tunisia to
generate sustainable economic growth, new jobs and better opportunities for
Tunisians, especially women and young people,” Gentiloni told Playbook ahead of
his trip.
Money for reforms: “The EU needs a stable and
prosperous Tunisia, which is why we are ready to consider additional
macro-financial assistance if the necessary conditions are met. This means not
only having a new IMF program up and running but also maintaining respect for
human rights and shared democratic values,” Gentiloni said, adding he was
looking forward to “intensive and, I trust, constructive discussions with the
Tunisian authorities.”
Background: Years of economic hardship have accentuated
the political instability in the country. The European Parliament and human
rights watchdogs accused Saied of an authoritarian drift. Saied has claimed
migrants from sub-Saharan Africa are trying to erase his country’s national
identity.
It’s migration that has mobilized EU leaders. They
discussed the issue at last week’s summit, after Italy registered a surge in
arrivals from Tunisia. A public report from Italy’s intelligence services in
February claims that around half of migrant arrivals in 2023 left from Tunisia.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she
was warning fellow EU leaders that Tunisia’s financial woes “risk unleashing an
unprecedented flow of migrants,” and stressed the need to “support the country’s
stability,” my colleagues Gregorio Sorgi and Paola Tamma report.
Latest tragedy: At least 29 migrants died when two
boats sank off the coast of Tunisia as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to
Italy, the Tunisian coast guard said on Sunday. Reuters has more.
Money for Tunis: Rome is pushing the IMF to greenlight
a $1.9 billion package to Tunisia, in the hopes it will provide a lifeline to
the country’s struggling economy. Tunisia reached a deal with the IMF in
September, but talks have been stalled for months as the government failed to
deliver on reforms.
EU cash on the table: Gentiloni will discuss with
Saied and other members of government the potential disbursement of EU
macro-financial assistance, but an announcement is not expected today. On Friday,
Meloni said “the MFA is included in the IMF’s work, it is part of the same
package,” and stressed that the unblocking of the IMF’s pot of money remains
the top priority.
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