The EU has signed off on a €1bn (£860m) deal with Tunisia to help stem irregular migration, as the president of the north African country denounced those who offer migrants “sympathy without respect” for their goal to have equity in life.
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At least 15 migrants have been found dead off Tunisia’s coast and on its border with Algeria this week, authorities said on Friday. The deaths come as sub-Saharan Africans face increasing tensions in Tunisia and more and more people seek to leave or transit through the country en route to Europe.
Four people who survived the migrant boat disaster off the coast of Greece say the actions of the Greek coastguard caused the crowded fishing vessel to sink, according to BBC.
Italy’s center-right government is again grabbing international headlines by virtue of enforcing its immigration laws.
“We live in a complicated moment, in which negative circumstances risk causing the migration issue to explode,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, warned on Thursday.
Several NGOs in Italy have denounced European countries for their alleged role in migrant deaths in the Mediterranean Sea, emphasizing the responsibility states bear in preventing further tragedies at sea, reported InfoMigrants website.
Turkey headed for a runoff vote after President Tayyip Erdogan led over his opposition rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu in Sunday’s election but fell short of an outright majority to extend his 20-year rule of the NATO-member country.
Two migrant boats carrying a total of 50 people were intercepted by finance police and accompanied to Lampedusa on Saturday, taking to 430 the total number of arrivals since midnight in 10 distinct landings.
The Italian authorities continue the policy of assigning distant ports to NGO rescue vessels for the disembarkation of survivors. Malta failed to rescue more than 7,000 people in distress in the country’s SAR zone in 2022 and reports of non-response tactics continue to mount. EU partners, Tunisia and Libya continue their pull back operations and abuse of migrants, according to European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE).
Malta’s armed forces have refused to provide figures on migrant rescue operations requested by Times of Malta, claiming their publication could endanger national security.