President Kais Saied left on Saturday afternoon for Rome to take part on Sunday in the International Conference on Development and Migration, at the invitation of Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni.
Upon his arrival at the presidential airport, the President of the Republic reviewed a lineup of the three armies paying him honours, then saluted the flag to the tune of the national anthem.
Saied was seen off by Prime Minister Najla Boudin.
The Head of State was accompanied by a delegation including the Ministers of Interior affairs, of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad and of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries.
The conference will be held against a backdrop of increasing flows of irregular sub-Saharan migrants to Europe via Tunisia and North African countries, which continues to raise serious concerns for countries on the two shores of the Mediterranean.
Tunisia is currently suffering an unprecedented rise in massive flows of irregular African and sub-Saharan migrants, at a time when the country is struggling to cope with tough economic conditions.
Faced with this alarming situation, the President of the Republic has repeatedly expressed his categorical rejection of the prospect of sub-Saharan migrants settling in Tunisia, pointing out that the country can under no circumstances act as “guardian of other countries’ borders.”
The Head of State also assured that “the problem of irregular migration will never be resolved at Tunisia’s expense,” calling for a “humane and collective solution” to the migration crisis.
President Saïed also made it clear that Tunisia is a country that guarantees the rights of migrants and will not tolerate them being subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment. In return, he called on these irregular migrants to abide by Tunisian law.
According to the Italian media, this international conference will serve as a “roadmap” for the implementation of a range of concrete measures to boost development in the Mediterranean and Africa.
It will also be an opportunity to reaffirm the willingness to tackle the root causes of irregular migration and human trafficking, and to identify appropriate solutions to protect the environment.
The conference will be attended by senior European officials, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel.
Numerous leaders from countries on the southern shore of the Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Gulf, as well as partners from the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, will also be present, along with representatives of European institutions and international financial institutions including the IMF and the WB.
Representatives from Malta, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Ethiopia, Niger and Mauritania are also expected to attend.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse