by A.P.
Over half of the Tunisian migrants who claimed Italian citizenship between 2012 to 2017, 56 per cent, used EU Free Movement rules to move to France.
Statistics also reveal that of the Tunisians granted asylum in 2011, just 10 per cent remained in Italy by 2018, the lowest level of any nationality.
In recent months, Italy has seen a new surge of mass migration, primarily from Tunisia via the Italian island of Lampedusa. Many of them have made the trip north to the town of Ventimiglia, which lies on the border with France, after arriving.
Delia Bonuomo, a Ventimiglia bar owner, told French newspaper Le Figaro that many come directly from Lampedusa and do not bother trying to stay in Italy at all.
“They do not have the marks of suffering like Africans from southern Sahara, who have thousands of kilometres of wear in their legs and have sometimes experienced tragedies. They want to join cousins in France,” Ms Bonuomo said.