Tunis: Secretary of State to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad Mounir Ben Rjiba reiterated that Tunisia categorically rejects the establishment of transit platforms or the settlement of irregular migrants on its territory, and refuses to be the guardian of borders other than its own.

During his participation in the Copenhagen Migration Conference Comprehensive Partnerships, held on May 6, the secretary of State outlined Tunisia’s approach in the migration field and its rich experience in terms of partnerships with various northern and southern Mediterranean countries, according to a sForeign Department press release on Tuesday.

He touched on the initiatives that Tunisia has recently engaged in to address the issue of migration, most recently the launch of the Rome Process under a Tunisian-Italian initiative, underlining the huge efforts exerted by the country to rescue migrants.

He also pointed out the need to address the root causes of irregular migration in a comprehensive a
nd solidarity approach that guarantees stability, development and job creation for young people in order to curb this phenomenon, and to pool more joint support through bilateral and multilateral cooperation, combat human trafficking, and monitor and counter migrant smuggling networks.

The High-Level Ministerial Conference on Migration in Copenhagen discussed the challenges related to migration and ways of international cooperation to enhance legal migration channels, and various initiatives aimed at addressing the challenges posed by irregular migration in various regions of the world, especially in the Mediterranean region.

On the sidelines of the event, Ben Rjiba held a set of talks with officials from a number of EU member States and the Director General of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) on ways to scale up cooperation between Tunisia and these countries and organisations in various fields.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse