TAP story  win the Best News Item 2019

Tunisia's coast dying slowly: industrial pollutants are blocking valleys and environment is heating up

Written by Abdel Basset al-Farid

Sixty-year-old Khalid al-Hami, a sad, grueling figure, straddles a rock off the sea between the suburbs of Rades and Ezzahra from the governorate of Ben Arous, near Tunis.

He took a deep breath and then sighed with regret. The sea was no longer the one he had known decades ago after the government banned swimming in this area in 2017 as a result of pollution.

The southern suburb was dubbed the Pearl of the Gulf; the destination of holidaymakers from all regions, but since the early 1980s it has turned into a quagmire-like beach before the Ministry of Health classified some of its 19 beaches on the Tunisian coastline as polluted and prevented swimming there.

Khaled recalls the early 1980s when wave breakers were set up to repel the sea, but the way they were placed randomly disrupted its natural movement to a large extent.

The situation has exacerbated with the influx of polluted water and industrial waste from surrounding facilities through wadis tumbling towards the besieged shoreline.

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MAP story  win the Best News Item 2018

EU-Migration
Migration: After the Balkan, the central Mediterranean route makes EU dizzy

Written by: Rahal Taoussi

Brussels - After drying up the migratory route of the Balkans thanks to the agreement with Turkey in March 2016, the 28 countries of the European Union have to deal with the rising central Mediterranean route, which gives a hard time to the European leaders.

Overwhelmed by incessant flows of migrants because of civil wars, particularly in Syria and Iraq, the EU and Turkey concluded on March 18, 2016, a comprehensive plan to reduce migration to the old continent. The agreement, which stipulated for each Syrian returned to Turkey from the Greek islands, another Syrian is resettled from Turkey to the EU, up to a maximum of 72,000 people, with financial counterparts for Ankara, has drastically reduced the arrivals of refugees.

At present, the 28 of the EU are working to dry up the flow of refugees and asylum seekers from the central Mediterranean, especially through Libya.

In preparation for the meeting of Heads of State or Government to be held in Malta tomorrow, the European Commission and EU High Representative Federica Mogherini presented a few days ago their contribution to the discussions on the how to "better manage migration and save lives" along the Central Mediterranean route.

The Commission and the High Representative have outlined a number of additional measures to strengthen the EU's efforts along this route, in particular with regard to Libya and its region.

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APS get distinction for the news item 2018

Rat extermination, a risky operation in Oran's Habibas Islands

Written by Ms Lamia Brahimi

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LUSA story  win the Best News Item 2017

REPORT: Migrations: Nigerian leaves family, crosses Sahara with dream of becoming football star in Europe

Written by Fabiola Ortiz