Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali Nafti Announces Support for Tunisian Expatriates as a Priority
Foreign Minister, in charge of Migration and Tunisians Abroad, Mohamed Ali Nafti, stated on Tuesday evening that supporting the Tunisian community established abroad and improving the consular services provided to them is a "priority" for the department. He added that the ministry is working closely with various Tunisian diplomatic missions abroad to identify and address the gaps and shortcomings found. During a plenary session held on Tuesday at the Bardo Palace on the mission of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nafti emphasized that his department is paying particular attention to Tunisians living abroad. For this reason, he is working to strengthen communication with them and promote the consular services available to them. He also highlighted the efforts made by the ministry to implement new consular governance practices in order to achieve significant progress in the consular system. This will, he explained, save community members from problems related to travel, reduce waiting times, and alleviate congestion at diplomatic mission headquarters while allowing them to access a wide range of services remotely. He noted, in this context, that the department has made significant progress, particularly through the activation and extension of the electronic consular platform to various consular and diplomatic missions, adding that members of the Tunisian community abroad are showing increased interest in using this digital platform, which has resulted in a steady increase in online appointment requests for consular services. Nafti affirmed that work is underway, in coordination with the Department of Communication Technologies, to address the gaps and overcome technical obstacles as soon as possible to improve the efficiency of this system in order to activate new services via the portal of administrative services abroad, which will be implemented soon. The minister also indicated that in order to improve consular services and those offered to the Tunisian diaspora, the department has connected 50 consulates to the civil registry system, a measure that should allow members of the diaspora born in Tunisia to obtain their birth certificate directly from the consulates without having to present their family book.
