The Tunisian Diaspora in Germany
In Germany, the Tunisian Diaspora is an important migrant group of Northern Africa. Tunisian immigrants have come to Germany since the late 1960s and 1970s as labour migrants, as part of family reunification and as educational migrants while asylum seekers are the minority of this migrant group. In the meantime, there are a large number of second- and third-generation Tunisians who are today small children. In Germany as well as in other OECD countries we face the ambivalent situation that on average Tunisians are employed in unskilled occupations - and often they are unemployed -, while a considerable number is employed in highly skilled occupations. Reliable data about exact size, occupational and social structure is not available – however main figures are existing. This third module of the whole study approach is describing existing networks and organisations of Tunisian Diaspora in Germany, how they are participating in economic promotion of their country and future potentials for elite Diaspora mobilised by Diaspora policies.
(Study financed by European Commission, Invest in Med Programme and the German Ministry of Economics and Technology - commissioned by GTZ. The study - 40 pages - has been realised by the independent consultant Dr. Andrea Schmelz.)