Tunisia Cracks Down on African Migrants: Outsourcing Border Security

Tunisia is fighting a battle with illegal immigrants from other parts of Africa trying to use the country as a launch pad towards their ultimate destination, Europe. The North African country is close to the Italian coast and even closer to Italy’s smaller outlying islands. By landing a boat on one of those islands, which are Italian soil, migrants can claim asylum. In particular, the Tunisian ports of Mahdia, Sfax, Djerba and Jarjis have emerged as preferred departure points given their close proximity to Lampedusa, an Italian island. Sometimes, up to 7,000 migrants can arrive in Lampedusa in just three days.

There are several reasons why Tunisia has emerged as a transit country. Instability in the Sahel and a relaxation of visa requirements between other African countries and Tunisia in 2015, had all driven significant numbers of Sub-Saharan Africans into Tunisia. Up to 15 percent of the population of the country is now sub-Saharan Africans, although some of this migration pre-dates the current situation. The Tunisian President has expressed his concerns that mass migration of Sub-Saharan Africans into Tunisia is changing local demographics and creating anxiety. This has caused tensions which have sometimes turned violent. In 2023, a Tunisian man was murdered by a group of migrants from Cameroon during an argument, triggering riots in the port of Sfax.

Adding to this tension is the deal struck between the European Union (EU) and Tunisia on combatting migration. The deal sees Tunisia receive payments from the EU in exchange for keeping African migrants in Tunisia and out of Europe. The deal clearly had an impact, with migrant arrivals on the Central Mediterranean route between North Africa and Europe dropping from a peak of 25,756 migrants in August 2023, to just 2,293 in January of 2024. That said it is not without its weaknesses. Chiefly, it allows Tunisia the potential to harm the EU by no longer cooperating. As instability in the Sahel region drives Africans into Tunisia, the Tunisian authorities may simply give up trying to stop them. In March 2024, the last month full data were available, the number of migrants encountered on the Central Mediterranean route had climbed back up to 6,858. This could also be driven by a desire by the migrants to get into Europe before the June 2024 pan-European elections, where border control parties look set to do well and possibly implement tougher controls.

This deal shows offshore solutions to keep migrants at arm’s length can be effective but generate other potential issues. Chief among them is it gives huge leverage to the country holding back migrants should it demand concessions from Europe. Tunisia, Turkey and Morocco, all countries the EU has a similar deal with, have all tried this pressure tactic in the recent past. Furthermore, it essentially “traps” the migrants in the holding country, which causes quality-of-life and social issues for locals that are very difficult for local politicians to simply justify with money. It also relies on the country in question upholding its end of the deal, which given high levels of official corruption in North Africa, can be a questionable proposition.

Keeping migrants at bay in other countries can be a useful, if at times imperfect, part of border security. Under the Trump administration, many migrants seeking to enter asylum pleas had to “Remain in Mexico,” pending an initial screening to determine if there was a legitimate claim to pursue. The policy effectively deterred many migrants who knew their claims would not hold up to scrutiny. While not perfect, Remain in Mexico did reduce the illegal traffic heading to the U.S. border, benefitting both the U.S. and Mexico. When the Biden administration scrapped the policy upon taking office, migrant surges resumed, imposing to both nations.

By relying too heavily on Mexico, rather than implementing policies that deter illegal aliens from attempting to reach our borders in the first place, the U.S. also opens itself up to blackmail from the Mexican government, similar to the way Europeans have been blackmailed by states on transit routes for migrants. Mexico has attempted to blackmail the U.S. with demands for visas, money ($20 billion) and foreign policy changes in exchange for migration cooperation.  

Both the U.S. and Europe are facing similar challenges in terms of unending waves of low-wage, low-skill migrants who feel entitled to enter our countries without question and in any numbers they wish. Once here, they are rarely if ever deported, and even if deported, often return. They are also given a wide range of cash and non-cash benefits that further incentivize them. All of these factors explain why they continue to arrive in large numbers. Unless Western nations are prepared to secure our borders and end the abuse of our asylum policies, we may find ourselves relying on potentially unreliable third parties for our border security. Keeping migrants at bay in third countries is only a partial solution.