Italy Hosts Conference on Migration and Cooperation with Tunisia

• Pope Francis calls for action to help migrants seeking a better life.
• Italy’s PM Giorgia Meloni aims to address migrant arrivals and engage with Tunisia.
• EU signs MOU with Tunisia, providing 105 million euros to combat migrant boat departures.

National leaders gathered in Rome for a conference aimed at extending an EU-backed deal with Tunisia to tackle the issue of migrant arrivals on European shores. Pope Francis also appealed to them to address the plight of people trying to enter Europe, seeking a better life and escaping poverty and conflict. He urged that the Mediterranean should no longer be a theater of death and inhumanity in his weekly Angelus prayer.

During the talks, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni highlighted the focus areas, including illegal and legal immigration, support for refugees, and crucially, cooperation to promote development in Africa. In her 2022 election campaign, Meloni, representing the far-right, pledged to halt the disembarkation of migrants in Italy. The government has reported nearly 80,000 coastal arrivals since January, a significant increase from the 33,000 in the same period the previous year.

While the Italian government has created obstacles for humanitarian ships rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean, it has not been successful in stopping the departures themselves, mostly originating from Tunisia and Libya. Italy and the European Commission are striving to strengthen ties with Tunisia, offering financial assistance to reduce emigration from its territory.

Moreover, Meloni has taken on the role of an intermediary between cash-strapped Tunisia, facing a major debt crisis, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF’s $2 billion bailout package for Tunisia has stalled due to the IMF’s demand for structural reforms. In this context, the EU signed a memorandum of understanding with Tunisia, committing 105 million euros ($117 million) in direct aid to combat migrant boat departures and smuggling.

The conference serves as a platform to address the pressing challenges of migration, cooperation, and financial support between Italy, the EU, and Tunisia. The shared goal is to find sustainable solutions and alleviate the hardships faced by migrants while addressing the economic and political concerns of all parties involved.

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