John
02-14-2011, 10:22 PM
Tunisia's interim government agreed Monday to work with Europe to stem a flood of immigrants into Italy as it hosted foreign diplomats a month after the fall of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Troops patrolled fishing ports to prevent more Tunisians from crossing the Mediterranean after Italy declared a humanitarian emergency following the arrival of 5,000 asylum seekers on its Lampedusa island in a week.
The government agreed meanwhile to work with Europe to stop the exodus, after rejecting Sunday as "unacceptable" Italy's proposal that it send its own police into Tunisia.
The foreign ministry said Tunisia was willing to "cooperate with fraternal countries in order to identify solutions to this phenomenon", insisting however it would not tolerate "interference in its internal affairs."
"Tunisia hopes to examine this question in full transparency with Italian officials during meetings in the days to come," a ministry official told the official TAP news agency.
Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini was expected later Monday; EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton arrived earlier for talks meant to focus on democratic reforms and aid but also likely to cover the migration row.
Speaking ahead of his arrival, Frattini said that Italy could offer "logistics help in terms of police equipment and substantial resources, both terrestrial and naval, for the control of the Tunisian coast."
"Until now the system of patrolling the coasts of Northern Africa has worked and we want to re-establish the technique, which had reduced illegal immigration to zero until a month ago," he said.
While immigration from Tunisia to Italy is not new, there has been a dramatic acceleration since Ben Ali fled on January 14, ending 23 years in power, with good weather also believed to have played a role.
Nearly all the immigrants have headed for Lampedusa, which at just 110 kilometres (68 miles) from Tunisian shores is closer to Africa than Italy, overwhelming the island which usually has just 6,000 residents.
Italy has begun airlifting and shipping many of the immigrants to detention centres in Sicily and on mainland Italy, but police estimate that more than 2,000 of them remain on the island.
With the post-Ben Ali government struggling to impose its authority, Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni declared on Sunday that "the Tunisian system is collapsing" and said he wanted "our forces to intervene".
Europe's home affairs commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said she had asked Frontex, the EU border management agency, to assess how the commission could assist Italy.
Council of Europe parliamentary assembly president Mevlut Cavusoglu urged against expelling the migrants and said UN and other agencies should be brought in to help.
"Notwithstanding the need for action, there must be no mass expulsion," he said at the parliament in Strasbourg.
France's Industry Minister Eric Besson said "there can be no tolerance for illegal immigration" although some individuals might have the right to claim asylum, including supporters of the ousted dictator.
France also released 350,000 euros in urgent social aid, its embassy in Tunis said.
The interim regime, tasked with holding elections in six months, is battling social and economic tensions after the uprising against Ben Ali, which sparked protests across the region including one that toppled Egypt's regime on Friday.
Tunisians celebrated Monday, shouting "Ben Ali has gone!" and "Long live the people" along the capital's Habib Bourguiba Avenue, a focus of weeks of protests in which security forces killed about 200 demonstrators.
But some of the migrants newly arrived in Lampedusa said they had not seen improvements.
"The revolution didn't change a thing," said Jassousi Sami, a 31-year-old truck driver from the southern port of Zarzis.
"The police beat us just like before and the economy is in a bad state. I think things are going to be better here in Europe," he said.
Source - Yahoo.
Troops patrolled fishing ports to prevent more Tunisians from crossing the Mediterranean after Italy declared a humanitarian emergency following the arrival of 5,000 asylum seekers on its Lampedusa island in a week.
The government agreed meanwhile to work with Europe to stop the exodus, after rejecting Sunday as "unacceptable" Italy's proposal that it send its own police into Tunisia.
The foreign ministry said Tunisia was willing to "cooperate with fraternal countries in order to identify solutions to this phenomenon", insisting however it would not tolerate "interference in its internal affairs."
"Tunisia hopes to examine this question in full transparency with Italian officials during meetings in the days to come," a ministry official told the official TAP news agency.
Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini was expected later Monday; EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton arrived earlier for talks meant to focus on democratic reforms and aid but also likely to cover the migration row.
Speaking ahead of his arrival, Frattini said that Italy could offer "logistics help in terms of police equipment and substantial resources, both terrestrial and naval, for the control of the Tunisian coast."
"Until now the system of patrolling the coasts of Northern Africa has worked and we want to re-establish the technique, which had reduced illegal immigration to zero until a month ago," he said.
While immigration from Tunisia to Italy is not new, there has been a dramatic acceleration since Ben Ali fled on January 14, ending 23 years in power, with good weather also believed to have played a role.
Nearly all the immigrants have headed for Lampedusa, which at just 110 kilometres (68 miles) from Tunisian shores is closer to Africa than Italy, overwhelming the island which usually has just 6,000 residents.
Italy has begun airlifting and shipping many of the immigrants to detention centres in Sicily and on mainland Italy, but police estimate that more than 2,000 of them remain on the island.
With the post-Ben Ali government struggling to impose its authority, Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni declared on Sunday that "the Tunisian system is collapsing" and said he wanted "our forces to intervene".
Europe's home affairs commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem said she had asked Frontex, the EU border management agency, to assess how the commission could assist Italy.
Council of Europe parliamentary assembly president Mevlut Cavusoglu urged against expelling the migrants and said UN and other agencies should be brought in to help.
"Notwithstanding the need for action, there must be no mass expulsion," he said at the parliament in Strasbourg.
France's Industry Minister Eric Besson said "there can be no tolerance for illegal immigration" although some individuals might have the right to claim asylum, including supporters of the ousted dictator.
France also released 350,000 euros in urgent social aid, its embassy in Tunis said.
The interim regime, tasked with holding elections in six months, is battling social and economic tensions after the uprising against Ben Ali, which sparked protests across the region including one that toppled Egypt's regime on Friday.
Tunisians celebrated Monday, shouting "Ben Ali has gone!" and "Long live the people" along the capital's Habib Bourguiba Avenue, a focus of weeks of protests in which security forces killed about 200 demonstrators.
But some of the migrants newly arrived in Lampedusa said they had not seen improvements.
"The revolution didn't change a thing," said Jassousi Sami, a 31-year-old truck driver from the southern port of Zarzis.
"The police beat us just like before and the economy is in a bad state. I think things are going to be better here in Europe," he said.
Source - Yahoo.