The international conference in Rome was an opportunity to unequivocally reaffirm Tunisia's position that there is no longer any question of our country becoming "a mere corridor, a transit point or a place to house and settle irregular migrants", said the Head of State.

In a statement to the Tunisian public media, the Head of State said that "Tunisian coastguard vessels are there to protect the Tunisian coast".

President Saïed was keen to point out that the Rome conference was also an opportunity to reiterate that the parties involved in the migration issue bear full moral responsibility in this matter.

He said that the conference had provided an opportunity to raise a number of issues relating to regular migrants who come to Tunisia in compliance with the law and to discuss the status of displaced persons who flock to Tunisia as a result of illegal migration operations planned by criminal networks active in the trafficking of people and organs.

While expressing his pride in the fact that Tunisians belong to Africa, the Head of State was keen to point out that "no country in the world accepts the installation on its own soil of courts, childcare centres or the application of any personal status code dedicated to displaced persons".

How did they come to Tunisia? How does someone from the far reaches of the African continent know beforehand that the town of Sfax will be their destination?

The Head of State added that these legitimate questions are further proof that these operations are indeed planned and ordered by cross-border networks operating in the trafficking of human beings.

During the colonial era, migration was to the south, the Head of State recalled, stressing that today we are witnessing a reverse movement, a rush to the north because of misery, poverty and the emergence of new ways of working.

In other words, the current situation vividly depicts the contours of a world 'divided' into two blocks. One world dedicated to "human beings" and another for "the poor, the damned, the vulnerable", the President of the Republic strongly denounced.

President Saïed also reiterated the need to tackle the causes and origins of the growing phenomenon of irregular migration, expressing a convergence of views with the President of the Italian Council, Giorgia Meloni, on the creation of a new global financial institution to be fed by cancelled loans and funds recovered from banks in the North.

He went on to say that it was shameful to see thousands of people left to fend for themselves in today's world, under a blazing sun, without water or shelter. He reaffirmed that the Tunisians had done their moral duty to the best of their ability, unlike a number of international organisations that had turned a deaf ear and kept their arms folded.

Displaced, weakened and forced to leave their homes by the agendas of criminal networks, these migrants have nothing to do with the communiqués issued here and there by a human rights organisation or forum," insisted President Saïed.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse