Tunisia calls on Europe to provide more aid in addressing the migratory situation

The prime minister of Tunisia pleaded with European nations on Wednesday to provide more financial support to his nation and others in order to help stem the tide of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa.

Locals have protested and more expenses have been incurred by Tunisia as a result of migrants arriving from other nations with the intention of continuing their journey by sea to Europe, braving dangerous voyages on often-ratty boats.

Thousands of migrants, many of them are escaping poverty and violence in Africa and the Middle East in search of a better life in Europe, have currently gathered in southern Tunisian cities like Amra and Jbeniana.

“We need to give nations like Tunisia more support. At a migration conference in Tripoli, Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Hachani stated, “The aid provided is insufficient to address the problem.”

He claimed that Tunisia was a victim nation that was devoting all of its public funds to addressing the migratory crisis, adding yet further load to a government already beset by other issues.

He mentioned Amra and Jbeniana as towns that had taken in more migrants than they could handle.

As part of an agreement to combat illegal migration, the European Union gave Tunisia 150 million euros ($164 million) in March as budget help for economic and financial stability.

“This issue has been funded for the past 50 or so years, and it still hasn’t been resolved,” Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Al-Dabaiba stated during the gathering. “This money must be spent there (in the countries of origin) and not in detention camps, whether in Libya or Europe.”

According to a May report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), there were over 706,000 migrants living in Libya as of January 2024. However, according to Emad Trabulsi, the interior minister of Libya, 2.5 million refugees are being housed in Libya.

Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister of Italy, told the conference that addressing the issue in the nations of origin was necessary to remedy the situation.

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