World Tour: Stemming the tide of migrants from North Africa

NICK EICHER, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: WORLD Tour with our reporter in Nigeria, Onize Ohikere.

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: Tunisia-EU migration deal — We begin today’s roundup in Tunisia where some European Union leaders returned this month hoping to stem illegal migrant arrivals.

AUDIO: [Applause]

Leaders from Italy, the Netherlands, and the European Commission signed a strategic partnership agreement with Tunisia on Sunday.

The officials agreed to offer economic aid—including EU funding—to modernize Tunisian schools and boost student exchange programs.

The agreement also targets human trafficking networks.

Here’s European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

VON DER LEYEN: So we will work with Tunisia on an anti-smuggling operational partnership. We will also increase our coordination on search and rescue operations. And we agreed that we will cooperate on border management, anti-smuggling return, and addressing root causes in full respect of the international law.

The European leaders also traveled to Tunisia last month when Von der Leyen first pledged more than $1 billion of EU funding to support Tunisia. EU member countries still have to approve the deal.

AUDIO: [Ongoing migrant rescue]

Tunisia has increasingly become a major departure point for migrants illegally seeking entry into Europe.

On Saturday, a boat that departed from Tunisia’s coastal city of Sfax with dozens of migrants landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa.

AUDIO: [Flood rescue operations]

South Korea Flooding — We head over to South Korea, where rescue operations are underway.

At least 40 people have died since persistent heavy rainfall began last week.

In the central city of Cheongju, nearly 900 rescue workers searched a tunnel after a flash flood swept more than a dozen vehicles away. At least 13 people died.

The rainfall caused landslides that destroyed homes and buckled roads.

The disaster has destroyed nearly 200 homes and forced more than 10,000 people to evacuate.

AUDIO: [Visit]

On Monday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol visited villagers in North Gyeongsang province where a landslide killed at least 19 people.

YOON: [Speaking Korean]

During a government meeting, Yoon called on disaster response teams to mobilize all resources and speed up rescue efforts.

South Korea’s weather agency said some parts of the country will continue to receive heavy rain.

AUDIO: [Flood waters]

Similar heavy rainfall has also wreaked havoc in India over the past two weeks. More than a hundred people have died and thousands of evacuees remain in relief camps.

EVACUEE: [Speaking Hindi]

This evacuee says he took refuge on top of an electricity pillar when the flood waters came before a boat rescued him.

South Asia’s annual monsoon season runs from June to September.

AUDIO: [Iran street sound]

Iran’s morality police — In Iran, police units that check whether women are obeying head-covering regulations are returning to the streets.

Iran’s police spokesman announced the return of the morality police hijab patrols on Sunday.

MAHDI: [Speaking Farsi]

Saeed Montazer-al Mahdi says anyone who disobeys the police warnings would face legal action.

Official morality police operations ceased for months after Mahsa Amini’s death in custody last year sparked nationwide protests.

STUDENT: [Speaking Farsi]

This student says she doesn’t believe police can handle the number of people who now defy the regulation since the protests.

AUDIO: [2023 FIFA chant]

Women’s World Cup — We wrap up today in New Zealand where the FIFA Women’s World Cup kicks off Thursday.

New Zealand and Australia are jointly hosting the soccer tournament at ten different venues.

The games will begin in New Zealand with a match between the host country and Norway in New Zealand, while Sydney, Australia, will host the final.

AUDIO: [Maori Waka chant]

Teams from 32 nations, including the United States, are competing for the cup.

Carli Lloyd, a former U.S. player, says the American team will have to overcome some challenges to stand a shot at victory.

LLYOD: They do have some injuries, they’ve got some key players that are out due to injury. So, I think it’s going to be really tough, but they definitely have the talent, the depth and all of that to be able to go for a threepeat.

The U.S. team will play its first game on Saturday.

That’s it for this week’s World Tour. Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Ohikere in Abuja, Nigeria.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.