President of the Republic, Kaïs Saïed, called for the establishment of a "new global financial institution" whose sources of funding are twofold: "loans that have been cancelled and funds that have been looted and recovered", stressing that the United Nations has a duty not to delay in setting up this institution.

Initially advocated by President of the Italian council Meloni, this institution will have the merit of promoting the establishment of "a new humanist system capable of breathing a breath of hope and thus making prosperity accessible to All and for All", explained the Head of State in a speech delivered on Sunday in Rome, as part of his participation in the International Conference on Development and Migration.

On this occasion, the President of the Republic recalled Tunisia's proud history with the abolition of slavery.

We abolished slavery in 1874, and we have no intention of returning to this cursed and despicable tradition through irregular migration," assured the Head of State.

Let's be clear: Tunisia will never again accept any project to settle irregular migrants, just as it categorically refuses to be used as a transit point or a place to house and settle outlaws," insisted the Head of State.

Recalling the outpouring of solidarity shown by the Tunisian people during the crisis of irregular sub-Saharan migrants, President Saïed said that Tunisia had given moral lessons to others by giving precedence to human values over all other considerations.

This was a strong message and a percussive denial of the allegations and false claims relayed by circles linked to clandestine migration networks, forced displacement of populations and trafficking in human beings, President Saïed said, adding that this international traffic is now "a cheap trade" that generates illicit revenues estimated at 150 billion dollars a year and threatens 25 million people around the world.

For the President of the Republic, only concerted international management of irregular migration can change the situation.

Neither cavalier measures nor bilateral arrangements can stem the rise of this phenomenon, argued the Head of State, calling on the international community as a whole to seek effective solutions to the migratory crisis on the basis of an objective study of the causes and real reasons behind irregular migration.

In the presence of senior European officials, President Saïed recalled the shocking images of boats sinking off the coast, search operations underway to track down the bodies of missing migrants and attempts at illegal migration intercepted by the authorities, regretting that these tragic incidents had become mere news items that punctuated the daily news bulletins.

President Saïed recalled "the tragic and gloomy scenes where boats litter the beaches, where the stench of death lurks here and there, disturbing our consciences and reminding us that migration has become a leap into the unknown to escape the yoke of despair and injustice".

The Head of State went on to point out that the current crisis is the logical corollary of the migratory flows that preceded it under occupation and colonialism, castigating the determination of developed countries to sell arms to African countries in order to exacerbate tensions and fuel conflicts.

It would have been wiser and more opportune to use its wealth, wasted and squandered on arms trafficking, to ward off famine in Africa," continued the Head of State, asserting that there can be no security and stability without examining the real reasons for inequality and insecurity.

President Saïed also pointed out that this high-level conference is the first of its kind to focus seriously on the issue of irregular migration, stressing that over the years this phenomenon has become a real human tragedy.

President Saïed seized the opportunity to compliment the President of the Italian Council for having responded so quickly to the Tunisian initiative to identify solutions to the migration issue.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse