Merkel, on a two-day trip to North Africa that also included a stop in Egypt, said Germany and Tunisia had agreed on faster repatriations for rejected asylum seekers and job training for Tunisians. Merkel said the two countries had agreed that questions from Germany on the identities of Tunisian asylum seekers would be answered within 30 days. This agreement "will satisfy Tunisia and will satisfy Germany", Essebsi said, adding that it concerned about 1,500 Tunisians whose residency requests have been turned down by Germany. "Measures will be taken in the Tunisian consulates in Germany to help in their identification," he added. "The fact that you as a freely elected democratic parliament exist is a legacy of the great courage of the citizens of your country," Merkel said.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 04, 2017 17:03 UTC