The Tunisian National Guard reported over 14,000 undocumented migrants, the majority of whom are from sub-Saharan Africa, were either intercepted or rescued in the first three months of this year. They were heading to Tunisia's coastal cities as a transit stop-over and a final gateway to Europe, particularly the Italian island of Lampedusa. These figures represent a fivefold increase compared to the same period last year.
This has ignited a political crisis in both Tunisia and the European Union. The development has once again shed light on the issue of irregular migration and journeys of asylum seekers using rubber boats and raised various questions about the legal, political, economic, and social aspects, with a primary focus on the humanitarian implications of this massive challenge that is unlikely to be resolved in the near future as long as the root causes of irregular migration and asylum persist in the countries of origin of these endless waves of migration.
This analysis seeks to address the structural impacts of irregular migration on transit countries and how it has triggered political and socio-economic crises within their societies and with their authorities. It also seeks to examine the European Union's approach to dealing with these increasing waves of irregular migration and asylum-seeking using rubber boats.
The Sfax Coastal Crisis
On July 3 this year, a Tunisian youth was killed by an irregular migrant in the region of Kasserine, Tunisia, during altercations between them. This incident sparked widespread protests by residents, who called for the expulsion of irregular migrants from Tunisia. These protests spread to several other coastal cities, including Sfax, and many other local neighborhoods. The situation has escalated, posing internal security risks to Tunisian society, as tensions have increased between the population of Sfax and other coastal cities on one side and irregular migrants coming from Sub-Saharan Africa on the other.
At the same time, conflicting narratives from both sides, namely the Tunisian population and African migrants, reflected a conflict that portends inevitable worsening of the situation in the future. From their perspective, Tunisian citizens believe this phenomenon seriously impacts their already precarious economic conditions and that African migrants pose a security risk to Tunisian society. For African irregular migrants, this situation is a clear manifestation of violence and racism directed against them. Many of their narratives show that they use Tunisia as a transit point, with no intention of staying in the country because its economic situation would not help them overcome their crises and hardships that forced them into this new dire situation.
Accounts from irregular migrants from Sub-Saharan African countries indicate that upon arriving in Tunisia via Libya, Algeria, or even Niger, they faced various forms of violence, racism, and exposure to multiple socio-economic and bureaucratic pressures.
According to their accounts, many of these migrants were forcibly evacuated by Tunisian authorities to the Ras Jedir border crossing with Libya before they were either deported from Tunisia to Libya or left to an uncertain fate in the desert between Libya, Algeria, and Niger, where they either face certain death or are forcibly recruited by networks involved in illicit trade. There, these migrants are exploited and become involved in criminal activities in the African Sahel region and Libya at the hands of organized crime syndicates engaged in smuggling, drug and arms trafficking, human organ trafficking, and other forms of crime prevalent in the region.
Many civil society organizations helping asylum seekers and migrants reported a significant increase in the volume of irregular migration flows, referred to as illegal or unauthorized migration from various African countries in the Sahel and Sub-Saharan regions, mainly from Nigeria, Mali, Gambia, and Chad, towards North Africa. They have also found that increasing irregular migration can be attributed to the existence of transnational networks operated by armed groups. These networks actively lure irregular migrants from the Sahel and Sub-Saharan regions to Tunisia and Libya in particular, using the two countries as major gateways towards Europe and Italy and other Western European countries in particular.
For this reason, the coastal city of Sfax has transformed into the largest gathering and launching point for a significant number of African irregular migrants heading to Europe during the past three months. As a result, the former Tunisian government led by Prime Minister Najla Bouden has come under sharp criticism from local residents and faced protests in various areas, such as the Sakiet Eddaier town in the northern region of Sfax. Protestors called for measures and quick solutions to irregular migration.
Tunisian authorities rejected the current situation and emphasized that Tunisia will not be a transit country or a settlement ground for incoming irregular migrants. Stressing that its legal duty is to protect Tunisia's borders, the government described waves of irregular migration as a conspiracy to change the country's demographic composition and as a potential spark for open violence and destruction.
Despite that, irregular migration waves through Tunisia have not stopped. Health authorities in Sfax reported that the city has established particular burial areas for victims of irregular migration who drowned in the Mediterranean. In Sfax, in the past few months alone, more than 600 bodies of those who lost their lives in the Mediterranean and were washed ashore by the waves to the city's beaches. The situation has put significant pressure on mortuaries and hospitals in Sfax, as the large numbers stretched the facilities beyond their capacity to keep corpses. This situation reveals the ongoing crisis and indicates that Sfax will not be able to resolve the issue of irregular migration in the near future and that it is set to result in far more complicated consequences and implications.
Transit Countries' Responsibilities
In Tunisia, two approaches to addressing irregular migration have emerged. The first approach, which is humanitarian, has been adopted by human rights advocates and activists in the realm of asylum and migration. They argue that the pressing economic, social, political, and humanitarian conditions in the Sahel and south of the Sahara are the main causes of these continuous migration waves. In the end, the irregular migrants themselves pay the heaviest price. Along the way, Tunisia, as a transit country, bears additional internal burdens. This is in addition to its responsibilities at a broader regional level, with neighboring countries like Libya and Algeria on one side and at the European level on the other.
The second approach has been endorsed by the Carthage authority and the current government, following statements from the Italian Ministry of the Interior. This ministry announced that over 15,000 migrants had arrived in Italy across the Mediterranean since the beginning of the year, attributing these numbers to a lack of coordination with transit countries, especially Tunisia. The goal was to implement policies to reduce waves of irregular migration and organize "Return and Repatriation Policies" to their home countries. Following these statements, which placed the responsibility on Tunisia, the Tunisian President condemned, in late February, the arrival of "waves of illegal migrants" to Tunisia from countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Since his speech, hundreds of migrants have been repatriated from Tunisia to their home countries through organized trips by their embassies. Many of them expressed their fears of returning to their home countries and called on the United Nations to organize evacuation trips to other safer countries.
On the other hand, the European Union's perspective on irregular migration is limited only to its security framework. They believe that the phenomenon and its implications on transit countries are primarily the responsibility of these countries. Any internal disruptions with social, economic, political, and security implications should be shouldered only by the transit countries.
In this context, an agreement termed "The Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership" between the European Union and Tunisia was signed. Tunisia insisted on addressing the issues of irregular migration in the agreement's clauses, which was signed on July 16, 2023, in Tunisia. The goal of the agreement is to combat human trafficking networks, reduce the massive flow of migrants from the coasts of Tunisia, and collaborate on speeding up repatriation processes. In return, the agreement includes €105 million in assistance for Tunisia to counter irregular migration and an additional €150 million to support the country's budget, which suffers from debts nearing 80% of its Gross Domestic Product and faces liquidity shortages.
Inside Tunisia, the agreement encountered significant reservations from political entities and human rights organizations in Tunisia. For instance, the Tunisian General Labour Union called for transparency regarding the agreement's terms and the necessity of presenting it to a public referendum, given that such loans are obligations that will burden future generations. Moreover, several human rights organizations believe that "accelerating repatriation processes" clearly violate asylum laws that should prioritize humanitarian approaches. These should not be subjected to the European perspective, which places its security above all else.
Sources of Irregular Migration
A month ago, the Libyan border guards uncovered secret warehouses run by human smugglers housing more than 12,000 irregular Asian and African migrants who had fled to Libya on their way to Europe. This was followed by mass deportation operations, where these migrants were forced to travel on foot through the Libyan border, which sparked fear in North African societies.
Not only is North Africa a transit region, it has become a source of irregular migration. Over the past two years, many media investigative reports have raised questions about the future of North Africa amid irregular migration and refugees crossing the Mediterranean to Europe on rubber boats. The reports acknowledged that not only is North Africa one of the largest transit areas for irregular migrants but also that a growing number of irregular migrants come from North African countries.
Libya, for example, is notorious for the proliferation of smugglers' warehouses used for smuggling and trafficking irregular migrants from Libya, neighboring countries, Sahel countries, and Sub-Saharan countries, as well as various Asian countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Myanmar, Syria, and Palestine. According to statistical estimates, Libya is the source of the largest flows of irregular migrants and asylum seekers in North Africa. This is due to a lack of a cohesive political structure in a country where militias and criminal gangs control the scene and engage in illicit economies, including human trafficking operations from Libyan ports to Europe. This situation has exacerbated security problems and instability and reduced the Libyan state's control of these criminal networks, which have created a massive black economy.
Morocco, too, has been a source of waves of irregular migration. According to documents issued by the European Commission, Morocco witnessed an increase in the numbers of irregular migrants after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, where it became both a transit country and a country of origin for irregular migrants heading to Spain in particular. The Spanish authorities responded to these waves by putting deportation measures in place. The situation in Algeria is not different than Morocco.
In conclusion, the recent incidents of violence in Sfax have highlighted the pressing need to reconsider the issue of irregular migration and asylum urgently and to propose approaches and solutions to mitigate the inevitabilities of clashes and violence between local communities and the community of irregular migrants, particularly in North African countries, which primarily serve as transit nations. Given the escalating economic crises and armed conflicts due to climate changes and food and energy scarcities, especially in the Sahel and south of the Sahara, the world is anticipated to witness a surge of new waves of irregular migration heading northward.
