Poverty rate in Tunisia down 5% in five years

Poverty rate in Tunisia was down from 20.5% to 15.2% in the period extending from 2010 to 2015,  a five-year survey on consumption was revealed by the National Statistics Institute (INS). “From 2010 to 2015, the poverty rate went from 42.3% to 30.8% in the Midwest and from 11.1% to 5.3% in the Greater Tunis,” said Hédi Saidi, General Director of INS. A regional breakdown of data shows that poverty is most widespread in the West and some provinces in the South, where the rate exceeds the national average, such as…

Italian Interior ministry orders clampdown on irregular migrants

According To ANSA.It, Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti is to travel to Tunisia on Wednesday before transferring to Malta in order to obtain a rapid green light for repatriations all irregular migrants. There are also plans to alter the crime of illegal immigration in order to avoid suspects remaining in Italy until the end of legal proceedings against them, added ANSA. ANSA revealed that the new provisions come as the government considers establishing identification and expulsion centres (CIE) in every region. Italy currently has 10 CIEs, of which only four…

NOC: Western PFG supervises fuel smuggling operations from Libya

Western Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) is involved in fuel smuggling amid the current hardships in Libya, said the Chairman of the National Oil Corporation (NOC) Mustafa Sanallah on Sunday. Sanallah added in a meeting at the NOC headquarters in Tripoli that he backs up the Anti-Smuggling Commission and all of the employees of Brega Gas and Oil Marketing Company against the security threats that they are facing by smuggling gangs. “The NOC told all of the local and overseas relevant authorities about the information it has gotten in this regard.”…

Tunisia says 800 people jailed for fighting with terrorists

The Tunisian government says it has jailed or closely monitored 800 people who have returned from foreign battlefields in the past decade. Some of them fought for the terror group Islamic State. Government spokesperson says some are in prison, under house arrest and others are under close surveillance. Concern about their return has increased since Tunisian Anis Amri was identified as the suspected Berlin Christmas market attacker. The national union of internal security forces has called on the government to strip Tunisian extremists of their nationality. But President Beji Essebsi,…