The European Union has struck a deal with the Tunisian government to quell migration coming to European shores. What has been termed a “strategic partnership” after weeks of talks between the two governments has resulted in $1.12 billion to Tunisia to rescue its fledgling economy and bail out debts to directly deal with a growing migrant crisis.

While the funds are contingent on specific economic reforms, human rights groups have sounded the alarm that the European taxpayer money is funding the collective expulsions of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa. According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), most of the migrants are Ivorian, Cameroonian, Malian, Guinean, Chadian, Sudanese, and Senegalese. Between July 2 and 6, HRW estimate that Tunisian security forces expelled between five hundred and seven hundred people, including children and pregnant women.

Tunisia’s geography, situated at the northernmost point of Africa, makes it a prime point of departure for migrants willing to risk the dangerous oversea journey to nearby Sicily. Migrants from neighboring African nations often hand out their entire life savings to people smugglers or human traffickers.