In a joint statement, dozens of humanitarian organizations argue that cooperation between Tunisia and the European Union on returning migrants intercepted at sea to the North African country is contributing to human rights violations.
63 humanitarian organizations signed the statement, dated October 4 and entitled "Tunisia is not a place of safety for people rescued at sea.”
The signatories, which include SOS Humanity, Sea-Watch, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, ask Tunisian authorities to "end human rights violations against people in movement and the repression of civil society.
"The European Union and its member States, strengthening their cooperation with Tunisia to keep migrants far from European coasts, are violating human rights established by international Conventions," it adds.
"Refugees are not safe in Tunisia," said Marie Michel, of SOS Humanity. "Human rights violations in that country against people in movement have been documented in hundreds of cases, especially from the spring of 2023 until today. There is no asylum system nor protection for refugees," she stressed.
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'EU guarantees the respect of international law'
"For us, as a nongovernmental search and rescue organization - continued Michel - it is therefore inadmissible to bring to Tunisia people we rescued from situations of danger in the Mediterranean Sea because that would mean violating international law. Tunisia, like Libya, is not a safe place".
The organizations that signed the appeal urge the "EU and its member States to ask Tunisia to end human rights violations against refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. Having set up a search and rescue zone in Tunisia in June 2024, they ask Europe to guarantee the respect of international law and human rights, both at sea and on the Tunisian mainland.”
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