EU politicians who oppose the migration accord are refused entry into Tunisia

After EU legislators attacked a pact Brussels negotiated with Tunis to stop migration, Tunisia has denied admission to a team from the European Parliament, officials announced on Thursday.

On Thursday, lawmakers from the parliamentary foreign affairs committee were scheduled to travel there to gather information.

However, the foreign ministry of Tunisia stated in a statement seen by AFP that it had “multiple reservations” about the legislators’ visit and would not allow them admission.

Five MEPs made comprised the delegation, which issued a statement saying, “We condemn the decision of the Tunisian authorities to refuse entry for the delegation.”

“This conduct is unprecedented since (Tunisia’s) democratic revolution in 2011,” it stated.

A member of the parliamentary delegation named Mounir Satouri criticised the action as “both astonishing and exceptional.”

The event occurs after the European Union and Tunisia signed an arrangement in July with a view to reducing unauthorised migration across the Mediterranean.

Brussels has pledged to provide the administration in Tunis with financial support totaling possibly hundreds of millions of euros under the agreement, which was vigorously pushed by EU member Italy.

Left-leaning MEPs complained this week in a discussion that the EU had made a deal with an increasingly authoritarian administration that has been charged with mistreating migrants from sub-Saharan Africa.

In response to the decision to halt the MPs’ visit, the political coalition of the S&D on the center-left demanded the “immediate suspension” of the agreement.

Legislators were not involved in the decision to approve the deal.

The EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, expressed surprise and “regret” over Tunisia’s obstruction of the MEPs.

A spokeswoman, however, shot down inquiries about how the agreement would be affected, stating that “the continuation of the dialogue is even more important when we have challenges and difficulties.”

Thousands of migrants choose Tunisia as their major point of departure when trying to cross the dangerous Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe.

Since President Kais Saied attempted to seize power on July 25, 2021, international human rights organisations have warned that Tunisia has been steadily moving towards dictatorship.

The only democracy to emerge from the 2011 Arab Spring revolutions was Tunisia.

Saied has controlled by decree since making his first moves two years ago, and he pushed through a constitution last year that granted his office unchecked power and rendered parliament ineffective.

In a non-binding vote from March, the European Parliament denounced Saied’s “authoritarian drift” in Tunisia.