Smuggling, state capture and neoliberalism in North Africa

What is it about?

When examining the issue of human smuggling in Tunisia and North Africa at large, conventional analyses tend to emphasize their criminal and illegal aspects. Drawing on fieldwork and secondary sources, this paper argues that people’s involvement in the facilitation of human smuggling in Tunisia due to increasing precarious conditions of life for locals. In such a context, EU policies play a major role in sustaining these living conditions, particularly with their emphasis on border security and free-trade agreements.

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Photo by Koushik Chowdavarapu on Unsplash

Photo by Koushik Chowdavarapu on Unsplash

Why is it important?

My findings show that EU policies based on border security and free trade agreements serve only a minority of the population in Tunisia, sustaining instead the precarious living conditions of a large part of the population. There is a pressing need to rethink the role of the EU and its policies in North Africa.

Perspectives