A recent study from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) found that about 70 percent of Tunisian workers who left Libya after the revolution want to come back to the country.
AfDB Regional Director Jacob Kolster (pictured) commented:
"Libya has great potential as a country for absorbing Tunisian skilled and unskilled labour."
In fact, reports indicate that many of those who made the move were able to reclaim their previous jobs.
Emanuele Santi, AfDB's principal economist for Tunisia, told Magharebia that Libya provided a viable solution for job-hunters across the border:
"The Libyan labour market offers a job-creating potential in both quantitative and qualitative terms, and this market remains largely open for Tunisian workers ... This labour migration represents a strategic axis for Tunisia in the fight against unemployment."
Last year, Tunisia and Libya agreed to facilitate the movement of Tunisians who seek jobs in the public and private sectors in Libya.
At a conference on Tunisia's national migration policy in December last year, Tunisia's former immigration minister Houcine El Jaziri said that for many Tunisians, travel to Libya is the only way to eke out a living.
(Source: Tripoli Post)
