The Commissioner for Human Rights in the Council of Europe Dunja Mijatovic Monday called on its member states to insist on clear human rights safeguards in any further migration co-operation with Tunisia.
Her statement came in relation to the conclusion of a Memorandum of Understanding between the European Union and Tunisia on Sunday which foresees, among other things, closer co-operation on migration.
“The recently reported serious human rights violations against refugees and migrants in Tunisia only make the inclusion of such safeguards more pressing,” she stressed.
Mijatovic called on Council of Europe member states which are also EU member states to press for immediate clarification of the human rights safeguards that will be put in place and to insist that the migration-related aspects of the agreement are not further implemented until adequate safeguards have been established.
The 47-member Council of Europe based in the French city of Strasbourg is Europe’s top most human rights body.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi and Tunisia’s Secretary of State of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad, Mounir Ben Rjiba, following a meeting in Tunisia between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Tunisian President Kais Saied on Sunday.
The MoU, which provides financial support to Tunisia, aims to prevent people from reaching Europe, increase returns of Tunisians without permission to remain in Europe, and facilitate returns from Tunisia to third countries of people of other nationalities, it noted.
Source: Kuwait News Agency