Shaaban Bilal (Cairo)
Tunisian experts have warned of the repercussions of the continuation of illegal immigration on the security and social conditions in Tunisia, as waves from the sub-Saharan Sahel countries continue to spread widely to Europe despite joint confrontation measures, as the Mediterranean is witnessing widespread cases of people smuggling in unfit boats, which leads to the drowning of dozens of them. .
Tunisian political researcher, Munther Thabet, explained that illegal immigration continues despite all the measures that have been taken, and this is mainly due to the turbulent situation and instability in sub-Saharan countries, especially in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, calling for the need to address this real problem in those countries. At the United Nations level and then the regional level.
Thabet said in a statement to Al-Ittihad that Tunisia is doing its best within the framework of international and regional agreements to confront these waves, not only from a security standpoint but also from the humanitarian and social aspects. Therefore, Tunisia must be financially empowered to be able to temporarily shelter migrants, then effective partnerships with the Union. European Union to encourage the return of these migrants to their countries, and for the agreements related to combating migration to be more flexible.
The Tunisian political researcher called for the necessity of negotiations with the European Union to raise the problem of the losses and negative consequences of Western practices in Africa over the decades, and to hold an international conference to fix the problem of migration, development and equal exchange, and not to limit the crisis to the mere transfer of population from one region to another.
The Tunisian authorities were recently able to thwart new smuggling operations of illegal immigrants from the Tunisian coast to Europe via the Italian coast, where 60 suspects were arrested among those accused and searched for some time in cases of smuggling irregular immigrants.
Irregular migrants sneak into Tunisia across its borders from Algeria and Libya, and are then transported overland via smuggling vehicles to the Sfax Governorate, which is the closest point to the islands of southern Italy and an hour and a half away from the first point on the coast of southern Europe on board regular fishing boats.
For his part, the head of the Free Tunisia Forum, Hazem Al-Qasouri, believes that the issue of illegal immigration is not only a local Tunisian one, but an international one, and the responsibility for it is borne by the major countries and international organizations that raise abstract slogans, most notably the European Union and its failure to play its role in supporting Tunisia, so the issue will remain unresolved.
A few days ago, the security forces of the National Guard Province in Sfax uncovered an international network specialized in human trafficking and facilitating the entry and departure of African migrants from sub-Saharan countries to Tunisia.
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