TUNISIAN EXPATS MAKE ANNUAL PILGRIMAGE HOME

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TUNIS 002539

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/MAG (HARRIS)
LONDON AND PARIS FOR NEA WATCHER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV ETRD ECON ELAB SMIG LY TS
SUBJECT: TUNISIAN EXPATS MAKE ANNUAL PILGRIMAGE HOME

TUNIS 00002539 001.2 OF 002



1. (U) Summary: Each summer thousands of Tunisian expatriates
return on ferry boats from Europe to visit family, attend
weddings, and spend their vacations. The ferry returnees are
largely working class Tunisians, who moved to Europe in
search of employment and a chance to improve their social
standing in Tunisia. While during the year these expatriates
provide an important source of foreign currency through
remittances, during the summer they are a notable source of
imported cars and goods. In the face of a 14.2 percent
official unemployment rate, the GOT has reaped the economic
benefits of emigration, receiving a significant percentage of
its foreign currency earnings through the remittances of
workers that might otherwise be unemployed in Tunisia. End
Summary.

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Taking the Ferry
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2. (U) While the airports are full of flights bearing
European holiday-seekers, each summer Tunisia's ports are
filled with ferries transporting Tunisian expats back home
for the summer to visit family members, attend weddings, and
to spend their vacations. For a few months each summer, the
normally orderly ports are transformed into scenes of mass
chaos as ferry after ferry descends, teeming with both human
and vehicular cargo. To add to the throngs, returnees are
often met on arrival by the entire extended family. Based on
anecdotes and observation, only a handful of the ferry
passengers represent Tunisia's well-heeled elite, returning
with their Mercedes and other luxury cars in tow. The vast
majority of ferry returnees come from Tunisia's working
class, who have gone to Europe in search of the jobs and
opportunities that often prove elusive in Tunisia. The
Office of Tunisians Abroad estimates that there are
approximately one million Tunisians, representing ten percent
of the population, living abroad. Of these, 740,000 live in
Europe, 120,000 in other Arab countries, 25,000 in America
and Australia, and 2,000 in Africa and Asia.


3. (U) With official unemployment at 14.2 percent and the
cost of living on the rise, many working class Tunisians see
Europe as a place where they can make some money not only to
raise their standards of living, but also to improve their
social standing in Tunisia. For many of these workers who
spend the year on the lower rungs of European society, the
annual return home provides a chance to bask in their
newfound wealth and to show their family and friends that
they have indulged in the conspicuous material acquisition
associated with success. In addition to the evidence of
excessive retail consumption are also signs of those who have
forgone the instant gratification of purchasing consumer
goods and electronics. One bank manager, who helped
expatriates at the port open bank accounts, told EconOff that
for many the goal is to build a house in Tunisia. He
recounted stories of expatriates who built their homes room
by room, scrimping and saving while abroad so that they can
add on slowly year after year.

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Expats as Importers
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4. (U) The yearly return also presents an opportunity to
import goods duty-free, a GOT benefit which the ferry
returnees take full advantage of. Tunisians residing abroad
are permitted to import up to 2,000 dinars (roughly 1,500
USD) worth of goods each year. They are also granted a
one-time exemption, intended to facilitate permanent return
to Tunisia, to import one car and an unlimited amount of
household effects duty-free. The exemptions have created a
duty-free bonanza. Cars explode with clothes, toys,
televisions, even refrigerators and tires -- all of which are
readily available for local purchase, but at higher prices.
Embassy contacts recount stories of Tunisian expats divorcing
so that two cars can be imported, instead of the one car
allotted to a married couple, only to remarry once back in
Tunisia. Often these goods are destined for family members
as gifts, but many duty-free products find their way to the
markets for re-sale. Indeed, the summer ferry return has
become a major source of car importation for a well-developed
parallel market, with some returnees using their car import
privileges to make some extra money. One Embassy FSN
reported having bought his car through a middle-man, who
purchased the car from a Tunisian woman employed in France.
By avoiding the import duty, the cost was a fraction of the
price he would have paid through a car dealership.


TUNIS 00002539 002.2 OF 002


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...But the Government Benefits, Too
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5. (U) Although the GOT laments the "brain drain" that has
resulted from the emigration of educated elite, the
emigration of the Tunisian working class has been an economic
boon for the country. Over the past five years, remittances
from abroad averaged 1.61 million dinars (approximately 1.21
million USD) a year, or roughly 5 percent of Tunisia's GDP
and one fourth of the country's foreign currency earnings.
The importance of expatriates to the Tunisian economy has not
gone unnoticed by the government. During the 2004 election,
President Ben Ali's 21-point program "For Tomorrow's Tunisia"
included a section on Tunisians abroad that underlined the
importance of the expatriate community's support for
Tunisia's economic development. In addition, the GOT
launched a massive effort to welcome Tunisian expats back for
the summer to remind them of their attachment to their
"mother country." In July, the GOT sponsored a National
Conference of Tunisians Living Abroad focused on maintaining
the cultural and economic links between Tunisia and its
expatriate population. In addition to offering the favorable
import concessions, the GOT also discussed measures to
simplify investment procedures for expatriates as well as a
program to offer Arabic language courses and cultural
programs for the children of emigrants.


6. (SBU) Comment: The yearly return of expatriates highlights
the sizable, and growing, number of working-class Tunisians
that have moved abroad in search of employment. Given the
high rate of unemployment and the importance of remittances
to the Tunisian economy, the GOT has been largely supportive
of the migration of its workers abroad, turning a blind eye
to the large-scale, sometimes dubious importation of goods.
Until the employment prospects for workers improve, the
summer ferry phenomenon in Tunisia will remain an annual
occurrence. What remains to be seen is whether in addition
to cars and refrigerators Tunisia's expatriates will bring
back ideas about political participation and democracy that
will also influence the country's future.
BALLARD