A group of MEPs from the European parliament have been refused entry to Tunisia, raising questions about the controversial partnership on migration that Tunisia signed with the EU Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen and the Italian leader, Giorgia Meloni, this summer.
The foreign affairs committee, chaired by the German MEP Michael Gahler, was due to arrive in the country on Friday. “We have cancelled the trip. We have not been given reasons for the refused entry, that would be speculation,” he said.
In a later statement to the European parliament, Gahler added: “This conduct is unprecedented since the democratic revolution in 2011. We continue to be ready for, and we insist on a dialogue on critical issues and remind this parliament has always approved the comprehensive cooperation agenda including the strengthening of democracy and financial support as agreed in the association agreement.”
He said he had complained about the ban to the EU’s high representative on foreign affairs, Josep Borrell. “I think we should not accept this”, Gahler said.
The Tunisian refusal document, seen by the Guardian, was issued by the country’s ministry of foreign affairs. It merely states that the European parliament’s foreign affairs committee (AFET) was due to visit between 14 and 16 September. “This delegation will not be authorised to enter the national territory,” it says.
The aim of the visit was to take an in-depth look at the political situation in Tunisia and support a dialogue around the memorandum of understanding signed by the EU and Tunisian president in July.
On the agenda were meetings with civil society organisations, trade unions, opposition leaders and emissaries of political parties, as well as the ambassadors of the EU member states in Tunis.
But having been refused entry to Tunisia, questions will now be asked about the country’s commitment to the EU and President Kais Saied’s willingness to address concerns about a reduction in human rights and the independence of the judiciary under his watch.
The deal with the EU on migration has been highly controversial. It was criticised as recently as Wednesday by the charity Médecins Sans Frontières, which said it would make the bloc “directly complicit in the ongoing abuse and deaths of people trapped in the country”.
The pact on migration was signed after a flying visit to Tunisia by Von der Leyen, Meloni and the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte – their second trip in five weeks.
It includes an agreement to return the thousands of Tunisian migrants who take the dangerous trip across the Mediterranean to Italy, along with a new initiative to accelerate legal routes for Tunisians to work or study in the EU.
As part of the agreement, €105m (£90m) will be allocated to help Tunisia deal with people smugglers. About €15m will be available to deliver contracts with humanitarian organisations such as the Red Crescent to transport and support migrants who wish to return to their home countries.
Tunisia has faced criticism over its treatment of migrants. In February, Saied gave a racist speech in which he said “hordes” of migrants from sub-Saharan African countries were engaged in a “plot” to change the country’s demographic makeup. Some observers suggested the speech constituted an attempt by the president to distract Tunisians from a grim economic situation and a deterioration in their freedoms after he suspended parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree.
