BRUSSELS — The European Union has struck a deal with Tunisia to try to stem the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean, amid heated debate over the fallout of the bloc’s migration policies, including a shipwreck last month that was the deadliest in years. will provide a broad package of support for the North African country’s embattled economy. Tunis, the capital, is a major port city less than 130 nautical miles from the Italian island of Sicily, and even closer to smaller Italian islands. That makes Tunisia not just a source of migrants itself but also a major transit stop for sub-Saharan Africans who are trying to reach Europe. Tunisian authorities have come under fire for alleged rights abuses of sub-Saharan migrants, including rounding up hundreds of them and abandoning them at the desert border with Libya with no food or water.

Source: The North Africa Journal July 17, 2023 20:38 UTC