EP delegation visits Tunisia to assess migration situation

Amidst soaring temperatures and sandstorms, the MEPs visited the checkpoint at Ras Ajdir on the Libyan border and two refugee camps in the middle of the desert on Thursday. NGOs estimate that over 500,000 people, fleeing the conflict in Libya, have crossed the border since February and more than 5,000 people are still waiting for resettlement, living in tents provided by humanitarian organisations

MEPs were deeply moved by the visits. "This has really plunged us into the reality of the situation...we came face to face with the people on the ground who spoke about their hopes and needs," said French Socialist Sylvie Guillaume "Strategies must be developed so that asylum can be granted. Asylum must be a right," she said. "The visit was both moving and shocking."

Heard complaints about living conditions

MEPs heard complaints from migrants about living conditions in the camp, like this one: "There is no good food, no good water, no good medication. I am three months pregnant and I can't stand that any longer."

"The problem is hope. There is no hope here. Therefore people leave illegally, for example to Italy," another migrant added. "We are all human beings."

In addition to migrants, MEPs met Tunisian soldiers responsible for security in the camps and humanitarian workers from the UNHCR, the International Organisation for Migration, Save the children, UNICEF, Red Cross and Islamic relief among others.

"The key request we got from all the actors in the field was to open up new places for resettlement. Three to four thousand people is not that many," Dutch Green Judith Sargentini said. "The most important role for us now is to share this experience and urge member states to be more generous. We will have to take these refugees anyway, either in Lampedusa or directly via resettlement. And I'd rather have them alive."