Migration defense | Germany supports Tunisia's refugee defense

The relevant maritime emergency control center is responsible for determining the disembarkation point for boat refugees. Since the establishment of one in Tunis, this has become increasingly common in Tunisia. Photo: AFP/FETHI BELAID Germany is involved in setting up the Tunisian sea rescue service and explicitly combines the training with police tasks. A spokeswoman for the Federal Police confirmed this when asked by the "nd": training content would be "linked to police and police tactical measures." The reason given is that Tunisian SAR units (SAR: Search and Rescue) at sea “also perform police tasks.”

In doing so, the Federal Police is fueling criticism that has been expressed for years against the authorities in Tunisia, which are also responsible for sea rescue: they declare refugees to be "smugglers" and then use violence against people on boats on the way to Europe. This is what civil organizations and migrants themselves report: their boats were pushed away or rammed by the Tunisian coast guard, and the occupants were said to have been beaten with sticks and intimidated with shots.

The Federal Police has been involved in the project “Expanding the training of the Tunisian coast guard/establishing a maritime academy” financed by the European Union since mid-2023. The project is financed by the European Union with 13.5 million euros and runs for 42 months.

A federal police officer is stationed in Tunis specifically for coordination. According to the spokeswoman, the training is based on the standards for sea rescue of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). It belongs to the United Nations, but its standards - like the EU rules on sea rescue by coast guards - do not provide for police tasks.

"Germany is thus becoming the trainer of a national guard that violates human rights, within the framework of a European isolation policy that consciously accepts the loss of human life."

The information on the coast guard's attacks was compiled by, among others, the Forum for Social and Economic Rights in Tunisia, the Alarm Phone Network, Oxfam Germany and the human rights organization Borderline Europe. In several cases, emergency services are said to have removed the engines from inflatable boats and then left the people floating in the sea. The Foreign Office explained that in individual cases the Tunisian coast guard had "temporarily dismantled boat engines to enable sea rescue." Media reports were cited as the source.

The non-governmental organizations also criticize the deportation of refugees who were intercepted at sea in violation of international law: According to the forum, in several cases they were abandoned in the desert at the Algerian border or handed over to armed Libyan groups. Oxfam said the coast guard's human rights violations against migrants were well documented and were not isolated cases.

The Federal Republic has been supporting the Tunisian security forces for years. The federal police gave the National Guard twelve inflatable boats and 27 boat engines. Equipment for a boat workshop and relevant training were also financed. A project by the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) to “support border management” in the Mediterranean was also intended to improve the quality of coast guard training and cost around 3.5 million euros.

The necessary infrastructure for Tunisian maritime authorities is financed from Brussels and the French agency Civipol has been commissioned to do so. A corresponding EU project ends in January 2028 and is financed with around 6.6 million euros. It includes the establishment of a maritime emergency control center in Tunis, which will be set up in 2024 and will be operated by the Navy, as well as seven sub-centers. Three of them are also subordinate to the Navy and four to the National Guard.

Ostensibly for carrying out SAR tasks, the Tunisian units also receive equipment from the EU, including at least nine boats up to 20 meters long for the coast guard. A large part has already been delivered, the last ones are expected to follow by the end of 2027. There will also be a radio system at 28 locations along the coast and a planned coastal surveillance system.

It was only as a result of the EU projects that Tunisia took on responsibility for the sea rescue zone in 2024 - as the last neighbor of the central Mediterranean. Before that, in 2018, with the support of the EU, Libya registered its SAR zone with the International Maritime Organization and named addresses for its Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC).

Responsibility for such centers does not always lie with security authorities. In Germany, for example, it is operated in Bremen by the German Society for the Rescue of Shipwrecked People (DGzRS), a non-profit organization. This civilian MRCC also coordinates the federal police ships in maritime emergencies.

The EU Commission explains that the support for the establishment of the MRCC in Tunis should help ensure that Tunisian search and rescue operations comply with international law. However, it depends on the safe port in which those rescued from distress are disembarked: to Europe, where the people wanted to escape, or to Tunisia, from where they fled. Tunisia has been considered a “safe country of origin” for the EU since February. However, civil organizations question this classification. Migrants from sub-Saharan countries in particular are subject to racist persecution.

The responsible coordination center is responsible for determining the place of disembarkation of boat refugees, the EU Commission confirmed in response to a question from EU MP Özlem Demirel (Die Linke). With the creation of the maritime emergency control center in Tunis, this is becoming more and more common in Tunisia.

In its response to "nd", the Federal Police also refers to a code of conduct for Tunisia's security authorities, which was passed by decree in 2023 and sets out binding guidelines for the police, national guard and civil defense. German training is intended to support compliance. The code obliges the emergency services, among other things, to respect human dignity and fundamental rights, not to use torture and ill-treatment and to use force lawfully and proportionately.

However, human rights organizations complain that the decree does not provide for any independent sanctions for violations. “The reference to the code is a pure fig leaf as long as nothing changes in practice,” criticizes the German rescue organization Sea-Watch. "Germany is thus becoming the trainer of a national guard that violates human rights, within the framework of a European isolation policy that consciously accepts the loss of human life."

The “nd.Genossenschaft” belongs to those who read and write it. With your contribution, you ensure that our journalism remains accessible to everyone - without any media corporation, billionaire or paywall.

→ report independently and critically → focus on overlooked topics → give marginalized voices a platform → counter misinformation → initiate and further develop left-wing debates

You can make the difference with “Voluntary Pay” or a cooperative share. You help keep this newspaper alive. So that nd remains.