Tunisia is one of the main partners of Italy and the European Union to stop migratory flows to the old continent. And it remains in spite of the complaints of violation of the human rights of migrants to which the European leadership looks the other way. The illegal capture of these people and their sale in Libya is a constant according to Report ‘State Traffic: Expulsion and sale of migrants from Tunisia to Libya’ that this Wednesday has presented the group on the left in the European Parliament.
30 testimonies collected in the last 18 months per RR[X]a group of researchers who remain in anonymity for security reasons, and the support of organizations such as ASGI, Border Forensic and On Borders, reveal the terrible and violent process suffered by hundreds of people on that African border in their attempt to achieve a Better life.
In summary, there are five stages that begin with the arrest of migrants in Tunisia, their transfer to the Libya border, overcrowding in camps, sale to Libya militias and their imprisonment until families pay a rescue for their release.
The captures by the Gardde Nationale Tunecina are produced at the exit of the work, in front of banks or agencies for the sending of money, on the street or even in the sea from some “shipwrecks caused”, according to the researchers, And they have some common features, such as the racialized profile of the victims (“the blacks of all nationalities are the main objective”), in deceit about the raids, the seizure of the documentation or the phones, and the use of flanges in feet and hands during the transfer.
“They caught us in the sea. When we arrived at the shore, they registered us, we were removed our phones and other important things. We saw a policeman hit a woman and wanted to react; I was pregnant. They began to launch tear gas in the eyes, then they handcuffed us and put us in vehicles, ”says one of the testimonies.
“They climbed us to the buses, they did not tell us that we were going to Libya. We travel all night. You are dead tired, you can’t do anything. You are like a clown. We woke up in the morning and saw signs: Libya 150 km ” Ben Guerdane ” Ras Alder ” Welcome to Libya, ”adds another victims about the second phase.
Once on the border between Tunisia and Libya, the survivors violence and “systematic” torture in the fields to which they take them. “The prisoners die as a consequence of the violence inflicted and due to the lack of care. The bodies are transported to unknown places after being loaded in trucks or other army vehicles, ”the report collects.
“They hit you in the head with iron bars, you tried to escape in all directions, but they surrounded you, they put you zancadillas… no one could get up, we lay down. And you better do it … because if you stand up, they see that you are strong and hit you again, ”says one of the attacked.
Tunisian agents negotiate with Libyan militias the sale of people for “money, hashish and fuel.” “The most common sales prices range between 40 Tunisians and 300 Tunisian Dinares (from 12 to 90 euros) per person,” the report collects, which suggests that women sell more expensive because they have “sexual value.”
When migrants ‘belong’ to LIBIAS militias, they are imprisoned until they contact their families to pay the bailouts, which range between 400 and 1,000 euros. “You have to pay even if you are sick, you have to pay even if you are dying. They do not release you for any reason. If you die, they put you in the desert. If you try to escape, they shoot you. They hit you even if you are sick (…) it is terrible. I called my parents, they paid 350,000 CFA, some pay more, ”says one of the survivors.
They loaded us in cars and took us to a prison in the desert. The prison in Libya is hell. You have to be very strong. In the morning they hit and give you phones to call your parents. Drink water is salty. There are no toilets. You eat in the same place where you shit. […] Those who cannot pay to get out of that jail, after one month or two months, are transferred to another prison
“When Libyan soldiers buy us, then they sell us to Coxeurs (intermediaries). The Coxeurs Libyans in turn sell us to prisons and keep us there. [En las cárceles libias] Those who have family are forced to call them to pay and be released. Those who have no family stay there. There are many people who are missing, they are said to be dead (…) are in prison in Libya. They have no money to be released; Many fall into depression, others die. The prisons are terrible, there are fleas, you are overcrowded, you sleep on top of each other, ”says another.
Complaints of the agreement with Tunisia
The report lists human rights violations and crimes against humanity (enslavement, torture, forced disappearances, and a long etcetera) at the same time that the EU is watering millions to the Tunisian dictatorship to stop migratory flows, especially those that They go to Italy, which have been significantly reduced from that agreement. The drastic reduction of sea arrivals from Tunisia to Italy since October 2023 is directly attributable to the violence and intensity of migrant interception operations in the sea, ”denouncing the drivers of ‘state traffic’, which calculates that of The 100,000 intercepted people fleeing 80,000 people have been expelled from Tunisia to Algeria and Libya.
The EU People defender called the fulfillment of human rights and accused Brussels of hiding their risk assessment. The agreement with Tunisia, sealed by Ursula von der Leyen and sponsored by Meloni and the then Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, has also been questioned by progressive political groups and NGOs, but Brussels has ignored criticism and has been disbursing the funds.
“It is an irresponsibility that, with European funds, is allowed to finance the sale of human beings between Tunisia and Libya, putting price on the lives of people as if it were merchandise, with a cost of € 12 to 90 per life. The EU must stop this barbarism and put an end to its border outsourcing policies that result in these flagrant human rights violations, ”says the Eurodiputada of adding Galán Star, who has participated in the presentation of the report.
“The immigration policy of the European Union, based on the outsourcing of borders, is consolidating the fortress that finances systematic human rights violations outside its borders. Agreements with Libya and Tunis The outsourcing of borders.
#sale #migrants #Tunisia #Libya #escape #strong #hit
