EU to offer Tunisia about €165 million to curb migration

The EU plans an aid of up to €164.5 over three years to help Tunisia stop migrants from crossing to Europe, the Financial Times reported.

The EU funding will be invested in a training academy for the country’s national maritime guard, implemented with German federal police, it said.

The funds will also help equip the maritime guard with radars and boats, the paper said.

At least 1313 died in the risky Mediterranean crossing from Tunisian coasts to Italy last year, the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights FTDES said last month.

The number highlights that the country has overtaken Libya as the main crossing point to Europe, as the number of disenchanted Tunisians ready to take the risky route is on the rise due to worsening economic and political conditions.

The country, that was once an Arab spring success story, reels under high unemployment, inflation, and authoritarian policies, following President Kais Saied power grab.

A new report from the Tunisian FTDES found that “17,322 irregular migrants” with Tunisian nationality reached Italy’s coasts in 2023, “including over 4,000 minors.”

In 2023, Tunisian authorities foiled over 6,000 “irregular migration attempts” and stopped 80,000 irregular migrants on Tunisian coasts, 18% of whom were Tunisian citizens, according to FTDES figures.