The European crisis is changing the orientation of Tunisian workers … to Arab countries

After decades of emigration to European countries, notably France and Italy, Tunisian workers have shifted their orientation towards the Arab countries, where these destinations are no longer "attractive" for the hand of Tunisian work because of the economic difficulties faced by the countries of the European Union and the decline of employment prospects. Welcoming work in Arab countries, especially the Gulf countries.

In recent years, the geographical map of Tunisian immigrants has changed considerably, with non-traditional countries entering the polarized destinations of Tunisian labor, while Europe retains its historical polarization, now the number of expatriates is higher than the other countries.

Statistical data revealed by the Technical Cooperation Agency (a government agency for formally-managed migration management) indicates that most of the job postings were recorded as part of technical cooperation with Arab countries, confirming the conclusion of 19,237 employment contracts until the end of last July.

The Arab countries are at the top of the list of labor-intensive regions with 14,198 employees, followed by Europe with 2,640 employees, America with 1,436 employees and the United States. Africa, with 333. Most of these collaborators work in the health and education sector.

Qatar ranked first in terms of the attraction of the Tunisian labor force in July (188 delegates), followed by Saudi Arabia (166 delegates), France ( 131 delegates), African countries (91 delegates), Germany (89 delegates) and Canada (75). Detached).

Economist Ashraf El Ayadi explained that the European demand for Tunisian labor had declined during a recession in the euro area and that it was currently unable to create jobs, which limited the request to certain jurisdictions.

Addressing New Arab, Ayadi said the recession in Europe could reduce the demand for Tunisian products for export and reduce investment opportunities in Tunisia if the European economy was faced with liquidity problems.
He stressed that the European crisis could be exported to Tunisia and have repercussions on export and foreign exchange stocks, and therefore on the capacity of the Tunisian economy to create additional jobs in the country and abroad .

Immigration to Europe declined after the Tunisian labor force boom in the euro area, which began in the 1960s and continued until the end of the 1980s, before declining in the 1990s. 1990s, after European countries tightened their work visas for Tunisians.

Because of this restriction and the difficulty of obtaining legal residence documents, Arab destinations have become the most popular among Tunisians, while others prefer to visit African countries that are beginning to reach high growth rates and represent a new area of ​​immigration for work.

The researcher and professor at the Tunisian University of Science, Ahlam Ben Cherifa, said the migration to Europe would be limited in the future to some specialties, noting that the horizon is Always open in the fields of media and medical specializations, which explains the high migration of graduates of these disciplines in recent years, in return for the decline of employment opportunities in traditional fields.

Ben Sharifa told Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed that the European industrial sectors that attracted traditional labor do not offer a large supply of labor, that it is a question of simple or skilled engineers and engineers, which results in moving the migration map to the countries offering the largest supply. , Including Arab and African countries and Canada.

The Arab Human Development Report, published by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), revealed earlier this year that Tunisia ranks second in the world in terms of Brain drain abroad.

The organization estimated the number of Tunisian scientific talents who have emigrated abroad since the outbreak of the Tunisian revolution from 2011 to 2017, ie 94,000 people aged 25 to 45, 84% of whom left for Arab countries.

The same report pointed out that since 2011, many Tunisians specialized in medicine, pharmacy and engineering left the country to work abroad, in addition to 60,000 Tunisian students, many of whom probably will not return to Tunisia. after graduating.

The unemployment rate in Tunisia in the first quarter of this year was 15.3%, a slight decrease of 0.1 point (15.4%) compared to the first quarter of 2018 and 0.2 percentage point fourth quarter of last year, with a slight decrease in the unemployment of pregnant women. Superior certificates.