EU bolsters Tunisian navy’s border control, migrant interception capabilities

The EU is already implementing projects together with Italian, French and German state apparatus development partners to strengthen the Tunisian navy and coast guard’s capacities to intercept migrants at sea, several documents and a European Commission spokesperson confirmed to Euractiv.

The projects were approved before the EU-Tunisia Memorandum of Understanding that was signed in July 2023, and is currently in an early stage of implementation, Euractiv understands. 

The development partners include the French Ministry of Interior operational arm Civipol, the German Federal Police, the Italian Ministry of Interior and the Vienna-based organisation the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD).

In particular, the Tunisian authorities are building a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) with the support of the EU and its development partners, a European Commission spokesperson told Euractiv. An MRCC is the first point of contact for incidents at sea in international waters – all countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea except Tunisia already have one in operation.

“The next steps envisaged by Tunisian authorities in this area include declaring a SAR [Search and Rescue] zone – a national competency – alongside formally recognising the MRCC, implementing radar installations along the coast, and developing a SAR plan,” the Commission spokesperson explained.

From the moment that a plane or boat observes or receives a signal of distress from a vessel at sea, it is a legal obligation for the interceptor to flag the sighting to all close boats and MRCCs – usually also through the radio emergency channel 16.

The so-called SAR zones are parts of international waters (which begin 12 nautical miles from the coasts). There is no national sovereignty in SAR zones, though countries can be assigned an area to observe, to facilitate coordination and enable rescues to be performed in the shortest time possible.

The projects

The German federal police and ICMPD are implementing a €13.5 million project to support the Tunisian coast guard. The project focuses on training to improve their capacity to manage maritime borders and interception activities. The project started in January 2023 and it is foreseen to be concluded in June 2026. 

As ICMPD told Euractiv last year, two different centres for training the Tunisian authorities were inaugurated in November 2023, under this project.

EU-Tunisia deal: Vienna-based organisation to contribute to implementation

The International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) will manage projects in Tunisia under the EU-Tunisia Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), ICMPD told Euractiv in Vienna. 

Another €5 million was allocated by the EU for the “enhancement of the MRCC”, the European Commission spokesperson told Euractiv.

“This funding is allocated for the acquisition of IT and communication equipment with the aim of backing the effort of upgrading the MRCC in Tunisia,” the EU executive spokesperson explained.

For this project, the development partners are the Italian Ministry of Interior and the ICMPD, at the moment, in the third phase of implementation. 

Another ongoing project, with Civipol as a development partner, saw the French arm of the Interior Ministry granted €16.5 million to support both the coast guard and the navy interceptions at sea, capacity building, and providing equipment.

Human rights at stake

Tunisia is not a place of safety, many civil society organisations urged in a joint statement in July on the matter after the EU-Tunisia memorandum of understanding was signed.

In particular, not only the economic situation in the country makes Tunisia more fragile and less resilient, but the harsh political line towards black migrants in the country makes Tunisia an unsafe place for certain categories of the people in the move, the organisations said.

In the context of SAR, a rescue is concluded when survivors are disembarked in a place of safety. If people are disembarked in a place where they risk, for instance, abuses and tortures, the operation has to be considered an illegal return, according to the principle of non-refoulement.

[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]

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