2024-01-14 19:26:43
Tunisia: Arrest of terrorism suspects and a government plan for irregular migration
Official sources in Tunisia revealed that security forces arrested 5 defendants in terrorist cases who had previously been sentenced to prison.
High-level security sources also revealed the arrests in several governorates of prominent defendants in cases of dealing in huge quantities of drugs, including a lawyer whose office security forces seized a quantity of drugs, along with one of her relatives accused of drug trafficking.
Tightening security control on Tunisian coasts on boats smuggling African refugees (Tunisian media archives)
Financing terrorism
On the other hand, the Director of the Unit for Activating UN Resolutions Related to Preventing the Financing of Terrorism at the National Counter-Terrorism Committee in Tunisia, Dhafer Ben Hamida, revealed the new list of persons, organizations and entities accused of terrorism crimes.
Dhafer Ben Hamida, Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee, in a press conference two days ago in Tunisia (Tunisian media)
Dhafer Bin Hamida said that the list of persons, organizations and entities associated with terrorist crimes currently includes 148 natural and legal persons.
Ben Hamida explained in a statement to government media that the authorities are determined to “fulfill Tunisia’s obligations within the framework of combating terrorism, preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction, supporting the national effort to combat terrorism and preventing its financing.”
Hundreds of African migrants in southern Tunisia amid official objections to the country becoming a transit country or permanent residence (Tunisian media)
The list published by the committee included two decisions related to freezing the funds and economic resources of two terrorist elements, which Ben Hamida described as “very dangerous.”
Bin Hamida also stated that the value of the financial balances that were frozen within the framework of implementing the committee’s decisions amounted to 700 thousand dinars, adding that the committee considers all the demands for the listing proposal received by the structures and departments concerned with combating terrorism, and carries out a periodic review every 6 months, and updates the list. Whenever necessary; Whether by adding or deleting data.
The director of the unit explained that the committee has not issued deletion decisions since May 2023, while it issued 59 decisions to renew the freeze, which were published on Friday, January 12, in the “Official Gazette” of the Republic of Tunisia.
The Tunisian Ministry of Interior launches a new campaign once morest drug traffickers (Tunisian media)
It is noteworthy that the first decision to freeze funds was issued by the “National Counter-Terrorism Committee” in November 2018, which is the committee that the legislator assigned to follow up on the implementation of UN resolutions related to preventing the financing of terrorism and preventing the financing of the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
In a related context, the Tunisian Minister of the Interior, Kamal El-Feki, supervised, two days ago at the ministry’s headquarters, a working session attended by the eight heads of the border governorates with Algeria (governors), in the presence of high-ranking officials from all the ministries concerned with security coordination and development issues.
The session was devoted to examining preparations for holding the first meeting of the “Bilateral Committee for the Development of the Tunisian-Algerian Border Regions,” with its security, economic, and social dimensions.
The Minister of the Interior announced, on the occasion, that the top priorities of the Tunisian authorities in the future will be “improving the living conditions of residents of the border governorates and supporting security and stability in them.”
Tightening security control on Tunisian coasts on boats smuggling African refugees (Tunisian media archives)
Next month, the governments of Tunisia and Algeria are scheduled to hold high-level security and political coordination meetings supervised by the interior ministers of the two countries, on the sidelines of commemorating the anniversary of the incident of “the bombing by the French occupation forces of mujahideen from the Algerian national liberation movement,” in February 1958. Their headquarters are in the Tunisian region of Saqia Sidi Youssef on the border with Algeria. The bombing at that time caused the death of a large number of Tunisian and Algerian civilians and military personnel.
Irregular migration
On the other hand, the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Immigration and Tunisians Abroad announced, on Saturday, that Mounir Benjiba, Assistant Tunisian Foreign Minister, chaired a high-level meeting attended by security, political and administrative officials from various sectors to discuss regular and irregular migration files.
An official statement was issued following the meeting calling for “addressing the deep causes of this phenomenon, and not reducing it to the security dimension.” The statement also stressed Tunisia’s refusal to become “a transit platform for illegal immigrants or a country that accepts their resettlement on its soil.”
The Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced, on the occasion, in an official communiqué, that the meeting resulted in recommendations to “strengthen the communication policy, in the direction of further publicizing the efforts of the state and its various agencies in the field of immigration and confronting the fallacies that may be spread regarding Tunisia because of this file.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ statement on this occasion also addressed a call to European partners to address “the profound causes of irregular migration at the bilateral and multilateral levels,” within the paths in which Tunisia has engaged, including the path of the decisions of the International Conference on Development and Migration held in Rome on July 3, 2023, at the initiative of Tunisian President Kais Saied, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, following meetings they held at the Presidential Palace in Carthage.
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