The Tunisian Diaspora in France
It is generally accepted that about 10% of Tunisian Population of 10.2 Mill is somehow in France - about 600.000 of them are registered residents. France is by far the most relevant country for Tunisian Diaspora - more than 500 associations are representing their interests. Tunisian emigrants have always been divided between manual workers and high intellectual vocation. The study is focussing on Tunisians working in the ICT (Information and Communication Technology) sector and is based on empiric data received by questionnaires and depth interviews with experts. Different types of typical profiles are the result of the data analysis, like typical student profiles coming to France for higher education up to entrepreneur profiles with long stay intentions. Small and middle sized enterprises (SME) play an important role for Tunisians for first job experiences due to acquisition huddles for foreigners in French multinationals. Often high qualified Tunisians would like to return one day but are not ready to give up their French networks – we do speak of “brain trip” between two countries instead of “brain drain” for one.
(Study financed by European Commission, Invest in Med Programme and the German Ministry of Economics and Technology - commissioned by GTZ. The study - 25 pages - has been realised by the independent consultants Pierre Distinguin and Lotfi Hamdi.)