of a comprehensive coordination with the Maghreb governments.
In the same time, Matteo Salvini, the Italian minister of Interior, sent a message to the Tunisian minister of Interior, asking him to control the borders and the southern coasts more efficiently, arguing that migrants flows coming from Tunisia to Italy are increasing; he also demanded to speed up deportation including the deportation of rescued migrants by humanitarian boats.
These statements provoked indignation among the Tunisian Civil Society. The Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) condemned them, saying that these are racist statements that violate migrants’ human rights and interfere with Tunisian sovereignty.
The Forum expressed its surprise about the Tunisian authorities’ silence, asking them to explain to the national public opinion what the “bilateral collaboration” is actually about and its security and military aspects that seem to affect the country’s sovereignty and the migrants’ rights in disregard of international laws.
The forum asked the parliamentarian security and defense committee to hold the ministries of Interior and of Defense accountable for these facts. It added that governments who are complacent with the extreme-right groups in Italy and Europe, bear the political, ethical and legal responsibility of the human tragedies that are occurring in the Mediterranean Sea due to the tightening on rescuing operations.
#Italy #Tunisia #racism #xenophobia #FTDES
English 
العربية