Source: Amnesty International –
Three years after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen migration cooperation with Tunisia, the European Union (EU)’s unchecked support for border control in the country continues to fuel serious human rights violations against migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, Amnesty International said today.
The European Commission and Tunisia signed the deal on 16 July 2023, despite clear public documentation of a sharply deteriorating human rights situation in the country, including racist abuse and unlawful collective expulsions by the authorities that often involved torture and ill-treatment.
Since then, and despite the continuation of these violations and the 2024 dismantling of the asylum system removing the only avenue for protection, EU and member state officials have remained resolutely committed to strengthening that cooperation, celebrating the resulting significant drop in irregular departures from Tunisia while failing to put in place rigorous and credible due diligence measures, or to embed effective, transparent monitoring or human rights conditionality.
“Despite well-documented evidence of human rights violations against refugees and migrants in Tunisia, the EU looked the other way and signed the MoU without effective human rights safeguards. Since then, the EU has celebrated this migration cooperation as a success despite mounting documentation that the Tunisian authorities continue to subject refugees and migrants to serious human rights violations. These have included dangerous interceptions at sea putting lives at risk, failures to individually assess protection needs of those disembarked in Tunisia, as well as unlawful collective expulsions which have involved torture and other ill-treatment, including rape,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Given the scale and severity of ongoing human rights violations, and the lack of any protection avenues with no access to asylum, it is clear that Tunisia cannot be considered safe.
Heba Morayef, Amnesty International
“Given the scale and severity of ongoing human rights violations, and the lack of any protection avenues with no access to asylum, it is clear that Tunisia cannot be considered safe. The EU must act urgently to suspend cooperation on border control with Tunisia and implement strict, credible and effective human rights safeguards.”
In September 2025, the EU delivered two new search-and-rescue (SAR) vessels to Tunisia and in June 2026 President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced the delivery of three more, in a leaked letter to EU member states, in which she highlighted a 97% decrease in irregular arrivals to Italy since 2023.
In April 2026, in response to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request from Amnesty International, the Commission disclosed that Tunisia and other countries would benefit from a EUR 675 million migration support package between 2025 and 2027.
In November 2025, Amnesty International published a comprehensive report documenting the scale and gravity of violations described above. Those violations have continued while Tunisian authorities have not restored access to asylum procedures.