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ImmigrationGermany, a new El Dorado for young Tunisians
Despite the language barrier, many workers from Tunisia want to emigrate legally to Europe’s largest economy, in dire need of manpower.
Elyes Jelassi, 28, decided to pursue his nursing career in Germany.
AFP
France, Canada, Gulf, and now Germany. From January to October 2022, 5,474 work permits were granted by Germany to young Tunisians, compared to 4,462 in 2021 and 2,558 in 2020. This exodus is stimulated by a lack of quotas and increased recognition in recent years of foreign diplomas , including for pre-baccalaureate qualifications.
Germany, a country with a very low birth rate, has “enormous labor needs, not only in health or IT, but also in the hotel and catering industry, construction, the laying of fiber optics or driving heavy goods vehicles”, explains Narjess Rahmani, director of the emigration aid agency “Get In Germany”. In sectors under pressure, some employers provide the candidate with an employment or apprenticeship contract to facilitate obtaining the visa, and even finance their basic language training.
Yeft Benazzouz, director of the Yeft language school, has seen the demand for German lessons explode since 2020. “Before, I had groups of one or two people and it went up to six or seven”, he said. Even if since the summer, the pace has slowed down due to high inflation and falling purchasing power in Tunisia.
“Workers”
In addition to the language, Yeft Benazzouz teaches the basic behaviors to adopt, readily using proverbs to mark the spirits like “Pünktlich ist schon spät” (“by the hour it is already late”). “To go to Germany, you have to understand the mentality: they are hard workers, and they rely a lot on the motivation of young people, the seriousness of the work”, underlines Narjess Rahmani.
Hydraulic engineer Nermine Madssia, 25, opted for Germany as her future nurse sister, abandoning offers in France “where there is anti-Muslim racism”, according to this young girl who wears the veil. She thinks she will find “respect and consideration with a good salary”. In Tunisia, the average salary tops out at 1,000 dinars (about 300 francs) and even a computer engineer receives barely twice this amount at the start of his career.
“A piece of Tunisia”
Elyes Jelassi, 28, packs his suitcase, taking care to insert olive oil and spices, “a piece of Tunisia”, before flying to Germany. Under the eyes of his family gathered in their town of Korba, this nurse assures that initially, “he did not think of leaving the country”. “After three years of studies and internships in several hospitals, I decided not to pursue a career in Tunisia. Abroad it will be better,” he said.
Recruited from a distance, Elyes won a work contract in Germany in a clinic in Wiesbaden, which will even house him for free for the first six months. In addition to the salary argument, he is convinced of finding more favorable conditions there than in Tunisia where “the hospitals suffer from a lack of equipment, which causes conflicts with the citizens, and makes the work stressful”. But he does not imagine “staying for life” in this country, and would like to “return to Tunisia, at the age of 50”.
(AFP)