© Camille Noûs
The policy papers by Synergies Migrations and the Institut Convergences Migrations
At a time when Tunisia is emerging as an active actor within the Euro-Mediterranean migration regime, this policy paper offers a detailed analysis of the contemporary reconfigurations of migration control in the country. The report revisits recent dynamics of West African immigration to Tunisia, primarily characterized by its limited demographic scale and its concentration in major urban centres.
It highlights the construction of a migration regime based on selective undesirability, a utilitarian legal framework, and the absence of recognition of the right to asylum. It then examines the impossibility of “democratizing” migration governance since the 2011 revolution. Finally, the report describes the security turn since 2021 and the growing prominence of a removal regime that culminates in extrajudicial expulsions to border areas and the criminalization of forms of solidarity.
By deconstructing the idea of a massive and uncontrollable migration pressure, this publication shows, through the Tunisian case, that these policies produce the very “crises” they claim to contain. It thus sheds light on the structural limits of the externalization of European borders in the Maghreb, whose apparent effectiveness relies on the outsourcing of migration-related violence to authoritarian regimes, at the cost of rendering both rights and individuals invisible.
This publication constitutes the second issue in the series of policy papers by Synergies Migrations and the Institut Convergences Migrations (IC Migrations) on European and international issues related to immigration and asylum. These policy papers aim to inform debates on migration issues and to contribute to the reflection of all stakeholders (policymakers, institutions, associations, private sector, etc.). This series draws on scientific research conducted by fellows affiliated with IC Migrations, a network of more than 750 researchers in France and internationally, alongside Synergies Migrations.
In partnership with the Institut Convergences Migrations
