Category: National

This is achieved through cooperation with UN migration agency and neighbouring countries Algeria and Libya, Tunisia says In 2024, 7,250 irregular migrants voluntarily returned to their countries of origin from Tunisia, according to the Tunisian authorities. By the end of last year, Tunisia had managed to secure the voluntary return of 7,250 irregular migrants from sub-Saharan Africa, Mohamed Ben Ayed, secretary of state to the foreign minister, told a parliamentary session of the Assembly of People’s Representatives, on Wednesday. He added that this had been done through Tunisia’s coordination with…

The number of undocumented migrants crossing from Tunisia to Europe has dropped sharply from 97,667 in 2023 to 19,245 in 2024, Tunisian private radio station Mosaique FM reported on Wednesday, citing a senior security official. The radio quoted Khaled Jrad, central director of the General Inspection of the National Guard and head of the Committee for Illegal Immigration, as saying that “this remarkable decrease shows the effectiveness of the measures taken to face the challenges of immigration and strengthen border security”. In 2024, about 80,000 undocumented migrants will be intercepted…

As instructed by President Kais Saied, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad Mohamed Ali Nafti, together with Minister of the Economy and Planning Samir Ben Abdelhafidh, attend the 55th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum, which will be held in Davos, Switzerland, from 20 to 24 January 2025, under the theme “Cooperation in the intelligent era”, the Foreign Affairs Ministry reports on Monday. In this context, Mr. Mohamed Ali Nafti will participate in the high-level discussions scheduled on the agenda of the Davos Forum, which will be…

Italy and Tunisia have signed a €400 million deal to advance energy transition, renewables, and strengthen bilateral cooperation. Italy and Tunisia have solidified a two-year partnership aimed at advancing development initiatives, particularly in energy transition and renewable energy, TAP news agency reports. As part of the agreement, Italy has committed €400 million, representing a significant increase from its financial contributions under the 2021–2023 accord. The agreement was formalised during a ceremony in Rome, where Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and his Tunisian counterpart, Mohammed Ali Nafti, signed the accord, the…

New preliminary data from Frontex reveal a significant 38% drop in irregular border crossings into the EU in 2024, reaching the lowest level since 2021, when migration was still affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite persistent migration pressure, intensified EU and partner cooperation against smuggling networks has significantly reduced crossings at Europe’s external borders, with just over 239,000 detections recorded last year, Frontex reports. The decrease in the total number was mainly driven by a 59% plunge in arrivals via the Central Mediterranean route and a 78% fall in detections on the Western…

File photo: Migrants at the Lampedusa first reception center, managed by the Italian Red Cross | Photo: Ciro Fusco / ANSA

An offshore oil platform that was being towed from Scotland to Turkiye has run aground near a beach off Tunisia’s northern city of Bizerte, AFP reporters saw. The accident occurred on Saturday night when the oil rig broke away from its towboat due to bad weather, a National Guard official told Tunisian media. A general view of an oil platform that skidded is pictured on the beach of Hwaichat in Bizerte region, on January 13, 2025, after the traction cables connecting the platform to the ship that was pulling it broke, local…

Tunisia announced its ratification of an agreement to establish a mechanism for consultation on shared groundwater in the northern desert, with Libya and Algeria, pursuant to a decision published in the Official Gazette of Tunisia, the Libya Observer reports. This ratification comes after a series of meetings and summits that have stressed the need for cooperation on this issue, as Algeria witnessed in April 2024 tripartite meetings that included the ministers of agriculture from Tunisia, Libya and Algeria, where the groundwater issue in the northern desert was at the top…