Tunisia’s EU Cash Grab: 6 Press Groups Say $200M+ Migration Deal Enables Torture State

Tunisia’s EU Cash Grab: 6 Press Groups Say $200M+ Migration Deal Enables Torture State

Tunisia’s government is crushing journalists and activists while the European Union keeps signing checks for border control, according to a joint letter from six press freedom and human rights groups sent to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

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The Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, and four other civil society organizations warned that the EU is funding and legitimizing a rapidly deteriorating human rights situation under President Kais Saied. The groups cite the jailing of journalists, activists, and opposition figures, plus the erosion of judicial independence, as evidence that EU financial aid and migration deals are propping up an authoritarian regime [183179][183166].

The letter demands Brussels link future funding—including billions in migration management cash—to concrete human rights benchmarks. Without conditions, the groups argue, the EU is enabling the very abuses it claims to oppose. Tunisia remains a key partner for EU border control amid a surge in Mediterranean crossings, a strategic priority that critics say has led Europe to downplay the crackdown [183166].

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