The European Pact on Migration and Asylum could have serious repercussions on the situation of Tunisian migrants in the Schengen area, warned the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) on April 9.

The European Commission continues to underline that its new pact on migration and asylum will respect fundamental human rights.

However, FTDES and other NGOs think otherwise. The pact could legitimize violations including the collective expulsion of migrants as well as transform the countries on the southern shore of the Mediterranean into mere border guards for Europe, FTDES said, through readmission agreements and intensified border controls.

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'Pact aims to isolate and marginalize migrants'

The European Pact on Migration and Asylum, adopted by the European Parliament on April 10 last year, despite fierce criticism, is "an instrument aimed at legitimizing a repressive and severe system of control over people who are considered undesirable," FTDES continued in the statement.

"This pact also aims to isolate migrants, marginalize them and in effect annul the right to mobility and asylum in Europe," it added.

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'Brutal and neo-colonial system of collective expulsion'

FTDES underlined that the pact would have major repercussions on migration policies in the countries of the Global South, as it aims in reality to "manage the controls imposed on asylum seekers outside the territory of the European Union, through the creation of 'hot spots' and the use of external sources to ensure border control in countries of origin or transit, even if this involves the creation of detention centers for migrants."

The statement noted that the pact will be enacted into law across all EU member states following the European Commission's announcement in March 2025 of a new legislative proposal to speed up removal procedures.

In a press release on March 11, the European Commission announced: "Currently, successful returns of non-EU nationals who have no legal right to stay in the EU are around 20 percent." They added that current rules "differ across member states, which creates loopholes enabling system abuse. The new rules bring clarity and give Member States tools and the necessary legal basis to make returns more efficient while fully respecting fundamental rights."

FTDES believe however: "If this proposal is approved by the European Parliament and Council, it will establish an expanded, brutal and neo-colonial system of collective expulsion, with the complicity of third countries," the statement declared.