FTDES organized in Tunis a 2 weeks events supporting migrant’ rights

Between 14 and 25 December at the Rio cinema in Tunis, the Tunisian Forum of Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) organized days of debates, screenings and exhibitions in support of migrants, with the focus on 18 December, which is International Migrants’ Day. On this occasion, the FTDES in a statement denounced “the emigration policies in the Mediterranean, in Europe and in Tunisia, which have become more barbaric and violate the rights of humans and migrants”, also regarding in particular the migration policies of Italy, France and Germany , the statement continues:

“Despite the decision of the European Court of Justice of 30 March 2023 which condemned the Italian government pursuant to Article III of the European Convention on Human Rights relating to inhuman and degrading treatment, Article five on the right to liberty and security and article four on forced mass deportations, the authorities continue to collaborate infinitely to legitimize the mass expulsion of Tunisian migrants from Italy but also from France and Germany. In addition to the practices of violence and violations committed during detention and the forced expulsion of Tunisian migrants, deaths and suicide attempts have been recorded. As part of unlimited bilateral security cooperation aimed at stopping human movements, the Tunisian state and Italy are not committed to providing answers to the families of people missing due to illegal immigration“.

The FTDES statement not only limited itself to the complaint but also stated a declaration of intent:

“We refuse to normalize ourselves with the death of immigrants. We come to the sea, to the borders and to the desert and deprive them of the right to life, and we ask that security considerations do not prevail over the loss of human rights, and that any policy or cooperation in immigration matters, priority is given to the protection of migrants’ lives and their human rights, not by closing borders and exporting them.

We commit ourselves to the complete liberation of Africa, whose peoples are still struggling for their independence and true dignity, and we pledge to eradicate colonization, neo-colonization, apartheid and Zionism and to eliminate the rules of military aggression foreign country as well as to eliminate all forms of discrimination, in particular those based on race, ethnicity, colour, sex, language, religion or political opinions“.

Within these days the most popular initiative which aroused great interest was probably that of 14 December with the screening of the Italian documentary “Sulla loro pelle” (On their Skin) with the presence of one of the three journalists/filmmakers, Marika Ikonomu.

The documentary has the merit first and foremost of showing to the “outside world” what happens in the CPRs, in these places of “non-law” in Italy, real detention centers for migrants despite the fact that the migrant has not committed any criminal offence, but at most of an administrative nature but which is treated as a criminal offence, not only with illegitimate detention but also with abuse, with non-compliance with the normal rules of personal rights in the modern and contemporary age.

The filmmakers therefore give back to the public a piece of reality that the political authority and the Italian State would like to hide, giving voice to the “non-people”, to use a term coined by Dal Lago, who recently passed away, imprisoned in this legal limbo waiting or of an expulsion and repatriation or of a “liberation” towards another limbo regulated by the possession of a deportation order.

At the end of the screening, a rich debate developed which gave Marika the opportunity to answer numerous questions from the participants.

In particular it was underlined how the current CPR system which is about to be implemented by the current Meloni government, has been supported over the years by all Italian governments including those of the “left” indeed the CPTs the original form of the current CPRs were introduced by a centre-left government (Turco-Napolitano law); the issue of ignorance on the part of large masses in Italy on this issue on the one hand and the perception that the increase in such centers is seen positively as a resolution of the migration problem on the other was addressed.

Although there is no widespread movement against the CPR in Italy, there remain “pockets of resistance” on the part of anti-racist collectives and associations that stand in solidarity with migrants. In all this, however, there is a total absence of real political opposition both in parliament than outside of it.

Regarding the Italy-Tunisia agreements, it was pointed out in the debate that although the recent agreements promoted by the Meloni government and the EU are stalled, in reality the Italian government also recently donated some resources to the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior of land patrolling of borders such as jeeps (a constant in recent years), the agreement in place with Albania to open Italian detention centers for migrants in third countries is nothing other than the re-proposal of what was previously proposed to Tunisia which the latter currently opposes.

Marika also denounced Italy’s illegitimacy and non-compliance with international standards regarding the rejection and expulsion of migrants who would instead have the right to apply for asylum. The “qualitative leap” of the current government with regards to minor migrants who, despite the fact that according to international law they would automatically have the right to asylum, are instead currently the subject of an operation that calls into question the age they declared with the aim of bringing back a large number of them among adult migrants and therefore subject to expulsion.

A useful initiative that should be repeated in the face of growing racism against migrants on both sides of the Mediterranean.