Last week, over 11,000 people seeking refuge in Europe crossed the Mediterranean Sea and arrived on the small Italian island of Lampedusa. But is the EU’s plan to stop the boats from leaving Tunisia in the first place the solution?

For the premium Tortoise listening experience, curated by our journalists, download the free Tortoise audio app.

For early and ad-free access, subscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts.

If you’d like to further support slow journalism and help us build a different kind of newsroom, do consider donating to Tortoise at tortoisemedia.com/support-us.

Your contributions allow us to investigate, campaign and explore, and to build a newsroom that is responsible and sustainable.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.