The meeting will take place on Monday, March 20
The Foreign Ministers of the Member States of the European Union will discuss, during a meeting scheduled for March 20, the “Tunisian file”, in particular questions relating to the IMF, the rapid deterioration of the human rights situation in the country, to the arrests and recent measures targeting sub-Saharan migrants.
This was reported by the NGO Amnesty, stating that ”the European Union should publicly pressure the Tunisian authorities to end the repression against those who are perceived as critics”.
During this meeting, ”EU foreign ministers should critically review their cooperation with Tunisia in order to avoid contributing to the undermining of human rights and the independence of the judicial system’ ‘.
Organizations concerned about the crackdown on opponents have urged the EU to put pressure on the Tunisian government, ”calling on it to change all laws that criminalize the legitimate exercise of freedom of expression and ‘association.”
Philippe Dam, European Union Advocacy Director, Europe and Central Asia Division at Human Rights Watch discussed the latest arrests targeting opponents, criticizing the Tunisian government’s policy which, among other things, ” crushed freedom of expression and incited hatred against African migrants.
“EU ministers should make it clear that such a crackdown is incompatible with Tunisia’s obligations under international human rights law, and with closer ties with the EU,” he said. he pointed out.
Let us recall that the European Parliament voted, on March 16, an emergency resolution condemning the repression of judicial independence, freedom of expression and association in Tunisia.
The Tunisian Head of State announced in a press release published on February 21 that “urgent measures” were necessary “against the illegal immigration of nationals from sub-Saharan Africa”, denouncing in particular the presence of “hordes of illegal migrants” in Tunisia whose arrival was, according to him, a “criminal enterprise hatched at the dawn of this century to change the demographic composition of Tunisia”.
The country is already experiencing a serious economic crisis, exacerbated by the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic, and the high cost of importing energy and raw materials, following the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.
