Tunisia tries 16 Iraqis attempting to migrate to Europe

Tunisian authorities are trying 16 Iraqi citizens after arresting them for trying to migrate to Europe, Iraq’s Foreign Ministry said. This is the first incident of its kind after Tunisia lifted the visa requirement for Iraqi citizens wishing to visit the country.

Sixteen Iraqis, including 14 from the Sulaymaniyah Governorate in the Kurdistan region, who had travelled to Tunisia with the intention of migrating to Europe, are due to appear in court, a statement by the Undersecretary of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, Omar Al-Barzanji, said on Sunday. He said he expects them to “be released.”

He explained that “these people were deceived and believed they would reach Europe. Even if they receive a sentence they will be immediately released, because their sentence will be for one month and they have been detained for more than a month.”

Al-Barzanji noted that “two other groups of Iraqis from the Kurdistan region were recently arrested in Tunisia, and ten of them were released.”

He added that taking advantage of the cancellation of visas for Iraqis to enter Tunisia to attempt immigration “will cause problems for the agreement reached between Iraq and Tunisia.”

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