This study brings together experts from the region to reveal the role migration plays in North Africa today. The authors shed light on the relevance of migration from a historical and socio-cultural perspective, showing where priorities lie on the ground and what the way forward may look like. This publication was made possible thanks to the Regional Program Political Dialogue South Mediterranean of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS PolDiMed) which undertakes activities to promote greater understanding to improve cross-national and cross-regional developments in the Mediterranean region.

This briefing paper provides an overview of Syrian refugees’ diverse displacement trajectories to Tunisia after 2011, revealing differences between Syrian arrivals in terms of the timing of their travel, socioeconomic profiles, journeys, and settlement patterns in Tunisia, which in turn impact integration outcomes.

Since 2011, Tunisia has turned into a final destination for new and diverse groups of refugees, including from Syria. Syrian refugees’ family networks, together with changing Arab border regimes, economic opportunities, and dreams of better lives, shape non-linear displacement trajectories to Tunisia.