Tunis: A number of NGOs gathered on Wednesday in front of the Italian Embassy in Tunis to denounce what they consider to be "an attempt by Italy and the European Union to exert pressure on Tunisia" in order to police the European borders. The protest was prompted by the fact that a number of civil society organisations, including the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) and the organisation "La Terre pour tous" as well as a number of civil society activists, are against the visit of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to Tunisia on Wednesday. FTDES spokesman Romdhane Ben Amor told TAP that "Meloni's visit coincides with an improvement in weather conditions, which will be followed by an increase in irregular migration attempts, in order to exert pressure on Tunisia to police the European borders." He pointed out that the Italian Prime Minister "is endeavouring to limit the flow of migrants and control the number of immigrants on the Italian territory, notably those of non-Tunisian nationa lity, by encouraging Tunisia to transfer them to better monitored detention centres before their expulsion. " "There are many indications that Tunisia is playing a major role in the issue of policing Europe's borders by proxy, such as preventing about 80,000 migrants from reaching Italian shores last year and 21,000 since the beginning of this year," the official underlined. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse
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