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EU watchdog demands answers on controversial Tunisia migration deal

Published

1 year ago

September 18, 2023

EU watchdog demands answers on controversial Tunisia migration deal

The European Ombudsman is seeking clarifications on the contentious EU-Tunisia deal signed in July amid concerns of human rights violations.

The watchdog body, led by Emily O’Reilly, wants the European Commission to spell out what sort of safeguards, if any, have been introduced in the agreement to make sure the Tunisian authorities respect fundamental rights in their operations to curtail irregular flows of migration.

The Commission has until 13 December to explain whether it carried out an “impact assessment” before concluding the deal on behalf of all EU states and how it intends to review the impact on human rights over time.

“The Ombudsman also asked whether the Commission has defined criteria for suspending funding if human rights are not respected,” the watchdog said in a press release, noting that “concerns have been raised about the agreement.”

The letter comes a day after Tunisia denied entry to a five-member delegation of the European Parliament and further increases scrutiny over the contentious deal.

So far, the EU-Tunisia agreement has earmarked over €700 million in bloc funds to help Tunisia stabilise its economy, manage migration and boost renewable energy, and includes the possibility of an additional €900 million in macro-financial assistance.

‘Documented abuses’ against migrants

While no amount of money has been released yet, the agreement has attracted intense criticism from the European Parliament and civil society organisations.

They say Tunisia, under the strong-arm leadership of President Kais Saied, has repeatedly engaged in human rights violations and orchestrated the forceful deportation of sub-Saharan migrants, many of whom have been found abandoned in the middle of the desert near the Libyan border.

Shortly after the signature of the deal, Human Rights Watch released a report detailing the “documented abuses” that Tunisian law enforcement had committed against black Africans, such as “beatings, use of excessive force, some cases of torture, arbitrary arrests and detention, collective expulsions, dangerous actions at sea, forced evictions, and theft of money and belongings”.

Saied has been a particular target of criticism. The Tunisian president has publicly expressed his racist views of sub-Saharan migrants and denounced what he calls a “criminal plan to change the composition of the demographic landscape of Tunisia,” incendiary words that echo the far-right conspiracy theory known as the “great replacement.”

Despite the concerning evidence, the European Commission pushed ahead with the signature of the memorandum, arguing it was necessary to establish a closer partnership with a country that represents a gateway for thousands of migrants who every year attempt to enter the bloc, mainly through Italy, and request asylum.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has touted the deal as a blueprint for similar arrangements with neighbouring countries.

“We have signed a partnership with Tunisia that brings mutual benefits beyond migration; from energy and education, to skills and security,” said von der Leyen in her State of the Union speech. “And we now want to work on similar agreements with other countries.”

€105 million for migration

Specifically, the memorandum allocates a financial envelope of €105 million to combat anti-smuggling operations, reinforce border management and speed up the return of asylum seekers whose applications are denied.

The money, which is the crux of the Ombudsman’s concerns, is expected to be provided to the Tunisian authorities in the form of search-and-rescue boats, jeeps, radars and drones; and to international organisations that work on the ground, like the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

The promised €105 million is still under negotiations and needs to be translated into a legal instrument before disbursements begin, said a European Commission spokesperson. Member states will be consulted across the process.

“We will cooperate with the Ombudsman and we will be replying in due course,” a spokesperson said on Friday afternoon. “Broadly speaking (…) all EU contracts obviously have standard clauses of human rights.”

Senior EU officials have previously said payments would not be linked to any numerical target of annual readmissions or reduction of arrivals, and Tunisia would not be asked to host in its territory non-Tunisian nationals who have been denied asylum in the bloc.

“Tunisia is not foreseen to be a collecting point for irregular migrants,” a senior EU official said in July, speaking on condition of anonymity.

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World

Italian state railways plans 1.3 bln euro investment in solar plant

Published

3 hours ago

December 22, 2024

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Italian state railways plans 1.3 bln euro investment in solar plant

Italian state railways Ferrovie dello Stato plans to invest 1.3 billion euros ($1.36 billion) in a photovoltaic plant with an initial 1 gigawatt (GW) capacity that would cover 19% of its energy needs by 2029, the CEO said in a newspaper interview.

World

Christmas in Puerto Rico is a 45-day celebration with caroling, festive decorations, family feasts and more

Published

3 hours ago

December 22, 2024

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Christmas in Puerto Rico is a 45-day celebration with caroling, festive decorations, family feasts and more

Christmas, Navidad in Puerto Rico, extends far beyond Dec. 25.

The island proudly proclaims itself as having the “longest holiday season in the world,” according to the website Discover Puerto Rico.

On average, the holiday festivities in Puerto Rico last about 45 days, per the source, commencing right after Thanksgiving, and stretching all the way through mid-January.

The Christmas season in Puerto Rico typically lasts around 45 days. (iStock)

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The holiday season in Puerto Rico is full of rich traditions beloved by families.

One tradition those who visit Puerto Rico will immediately notice during the holiday season is decorations.

In Puerto Rico, decorations are typically put up by Thanksgiving, and kept up until the season concludes in mid-January, with opportune picture moments at every corner.

Parrandas, Christmas caroling, is a holiday staple.

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Carolers choose houses of family and friends to visit, typically starting around 10 p.m., performing aguinaldos (traditional Christmas songs), with not only their voices, but often with instruments as well, according to Discover Puerto Rico.

The group you begin caroling with is likely not the same group you end with.

In Puerto Rico, when carolers visit a house, they’ll often stop inside for conversation, food and drink before moving to the next residence.

Coquito is a popular beverage enjoyed during the holiday season in Puerto Rico. Coconut, vanilla and rum are among the ingredients. (Mayra Beltran/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Usually, the residences of the house visited will join the group for the next house, according to Discover Puerto Rico.

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A night of serenading loved ones can last quite a while, often stretching into the early morning hours of the following day, according to the source.

The biggest day of the holiday season in Puerto Rico actually isn’t Christmas, but instead, the night before.

In Puerto Rico, Dec. 24 is Nochebuena. On that day, loved ones gather for the exchange of gifts, caroling and a large feast.

Many families will also attend a midnight Mass on the day, known as Misa de Gallo.

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After Christmas passes, the festivities go on in Puerto Rico.

Another big event in the holiday lineup is Three Kings Day on Jan. 6, a holiday that “commemorates the visit that the Three Wise Men paid to Jesus after his birth,” according to Discover Puerto Rico.

On the eve of the day, children fill up a shoebox with grass to be left for camels to munch on while the Three Kings leave behind gifts for them, according to PuertoRico.com.

For a particularly festive Three Kings Day, Juana Díaz is the place to go, as it hosts the largest celebration in Puerto Rico for the holiday. In Juana Díaz, there is an annual festival and parade in honor of Three Kings Day that brings together over 25,000 people every year, according to Discover Puerto Rico.

Gifts are primarily exchanged between loved ones on Christmas Eve in Puerto Rico. (iStock)

Then, eight days later is Octavitas, a post-holiday celebration where families get together and celebrate one last time for the season.

The end of the holiday season is marked with the San Sebastián Street Festival.

This festival, spanning over multiple days, takes place in Old San Juan, and is filled with live music, dancing, shopping and parades.

Ashlyn Messier is a writer for Fox News Digital.

World

Small plane crashes into Brazil town popular with tourists, killing 10

Published

4 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Press Room

Small plane crashes into Brazil town popular with tourists, killing 10

Twin-engine plane crashed in largely residential neighborhood of Gramado shortly after takeoff, authorities say.

A small plane has crashed into a tourist hotspot in southern Brazil, killing all 10 people on board and injuring more than a dozen people on the ground, officials have said.

The twin-engine Piper PA-42-1000 hit the chimney of a home and the second floor of a different house before crashing into a shop in a largely residential neighbourhood of Gramado shortly after takeoff from Canela, Brazil’s Civil Defense agency said on Sunday.

Rio Grande do Sul Governor Eduardo Leite told a news conference that the aircraft’s owner and pilot, Luiz Claudio Galeazzi, was killed along with nine members of his family.

Leite said that 17 people on the ground were injured, 12 of whom were still receiving treatment in hospital.

Galeazzi’s company, Galeazzi & Associados, confirmed that its CEO and Galeazzi’s wife and three daughters had died in the crash.

“Luiz Galeazzi will be forever remembered for his dedication to his family and for his remarkable career as a leader of Galeazzi & Associados,” the company said in a post on LinkedIn.

“In this moment of immense pain, Galeazzi & Associados is deeply grateful for the expressions of solidarity and affection received from friends, colleagues and the community. We also sympathize with all those affected by the accident in the region.”

Gramado, located in the Serra Gaucha mountains, is a popular destination for vacationers, especially during the Christmas season.

The crash comes a little more than a year after Brazil suffered its worst air disaster in nearly two decades when a twin-engine plane crashed in the southeastern city of Vinhedo, killing all 62 people on board.