In an interview with aidóni, journalist Amine Snoussi denounces the authoritarian drifts of President Kaïs Saïed and his instrumentalization of the migration issue for political purposes. He sheds light on the opaque financing granted by Europe to Tunisia in exchange for outsourcing border management, which results in documented human rights violations by numerous organisations.
By Méline Laffabry (edited by Rogerio Simoes)
Since 2011 and the revolution that initiated the establishment of a representative democracy regime, Tunisia has benefited from substantial European funding, notably to support civil society and democracy. “Tunisia is living on a drip feed in terms of IMF loans and grants,” says Amine Snoussi, a Tunisian journalist and author.
However, since the transition to an authoritarian regime in 2021, funding has been declining. “There are increasing difficulties in financially supporting Tunisia, as there is no longer an interest in saying that we support the only democracy in the Arab world. The regime’s solution has been to condition aid on stricter migration regulation.”
Amine Snoussi highlights the opacity surrounding the use of these funds. He points out the lack of control and transparency in the management of funds allocated to the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior, responsible for border management.
Financing controversial policies
Tunisia’s migration policy, under President Kaïs Saïed, has hardened in recent years. “There has been indeed a reality of anti-Black racism in Tunisia long before [the rise to power of Kaïs Saïed],” says Snoussi “It was a racism omnipresent among individuals, in administrative contexts, in the renewal of residence permits, in contexts of social violence, disdain. But it was not at the top of the State. And now, that’s what is different.”
In a speech on February 21, 2023, the Tunisian president declared that “hordes of illegal immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa” had arrived in Tunisia and were responsible for “violence, crimes, and unacceptable acts.” He added that it was an “abnormal” situation that was part of a criminal plan designed to “transform Tunisia’s demographic composition” and turn it “into an African state that no longer belongs to the Arab-Islamic world”. The speech was denounced by numerous international organisations and sparked a wave of violence in the country.
Accepting European funding for border control allows Kaïs Saïed to finance his own migration policy. “The idea is to prevent sub-Saharans from even coming to Tunisia. It’s to turn Tunisia into a hostile place for migrants, like Libya, so there isn’t even an attempt to pass through Tunisia to reach Europe,” says Snoussi.
European “diplomatic cynicism”
Amine Snoussi cites the example of police raids carried out in the summer of 2023. “We still need to contextualize what happened last summer. These are police officers coming to fetch Blacks from their homes, just because they are Black. They don’t know if they are irregular. They don’t check anything, they put them on buses and dump them in the desert. Without water, without anything.”
The journalist points to what he considers lack of reaction outside the country. “There weren’t that many condemnations. There wasn’t that much criticism from European countries. There wasn’t concern. There wasn’t a questioning of relations.”
He denounces what he sees as cynicism of European countries that finance Tunisia’s repressive migration policies and turn a blind eye to human rights violations. He points that European nations have already collaborated with authoritarian regimes in the past, in Tunisia and elsewhere.
“They just saw someone who was capable of doing the dirty work for them. Why do we accept to do business and finance illegal things? I don’t know, but it’s not new. In any case, under Ben Ali, for example, France, Europe, knew that the Ministry of the Interior was torturing people, imprisoning opponents, sometimes killing them. That didn’t prevent them from funding programs for the Tunisian police, in equipment, technology, etc.”
This has been happening with Europe’s relationship with Egypt, he says. “Europe knows very well that Egypt has a number of political opponents in prison that defy any competition. These are figures worthy of a medium-sized city in France. There is no political freedom. There is mistreatment of opponents. That doesn’t prevent France from making it its main ally in terms of arms sales, in terms of sharing diplomatic intelligence, sharing intelligence, etc. I think it’s more general. There is a diplomatic cynicism that has settled in. As long as it serves our interests, it’s not a big deal.”
“Transfer of sovereignty”
The current situation, amounting to an outsourcing of border management by Europe, is not just a transfer of financial means, according to Amine Snoussi. He says it is also, and above all, a transfer of responsibility.
“Outsourcing borders also makes borders them more difficult to access. It’s about training Tunisia to be more aggressive on its borders, to be more rigorous, and above all to have coastguards capable of ensuring that migrants end up in the water. [That these coastguards] are ready to do this to protect Europe from the arrival of migrants. This, in fact, is a transfer of sovereignty because de facto, politically, it is not up to [Tunisia] to manage Europe’s borders. And especially, it is a major problem for the rest of Africa.
“We find ourselves in a situation where one country agrees to play Europe’s coastguards on another continent, with neighbours turning a blind eye, and a whole system in place.”
Why would this system serve European interests? “I think there are quite a few liberals and people from the European political majority who say, come on, let’s move the problem away. Let’s put it in Tunisia,” says Snoussi. And like that, it won’t be visible anymore. The problem is that migrants exist, we see them. That’s what’s scary. When there is media coverage of SOS Méditerranée, of migrants dying at sea, etc., it’s problematic for Europe, it’s problematic for its image, problematic for the political credibility of the people leading it. If we give the responsibility, and then we can blame the Tunisian state, Westerners win on both sides.”
Amine Snoussi believes the goal is to place responsibility on others. “Handing over responsibility for migration to private organisations, let’s not lie to ourselves about what that will lead to. We’ve seen it, even with organisations that are not private, like Frontex. The humanitarian catastrophe that is Frontex… I don’t think the objective is to be more discreet. I think the idea is not to assume responsibility.”
“Saying ‘it’s not us’ is always powerful when it comes to migration. Because in the Mediterranean, everyone is responsible. It’s not just the countries with a maritime border. It’s all of Europe that is responsible. Because they never wanted to harmonise the reception policy, they never wanted to relax visa conditions, etc. The idea is not to assume political responsibility. It’s to entrust this role to another institution and not be responsible for the deaths.”
This article is part of the special series “Tunisia – Land of Passage”, produced by Specto Media and aidóni. Listen to the podcast here.
