(TAP) – "Some 45 % of young Tunisians say they are willing to emigrate, even illegally," according to a study on "Youth and illegal migration in Tunisia: a field study of stereotypes, practices and expectations".

According to this study, carried out by the Tunisian Forum for Social and Economic Rights (FTDES), in partnership with the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung Foundation (RLS), 81% of young people questioned are willing to finance illegal migration.

The study, conducted by 11 experts, including 9 academics, aims to analyse the aspects of clandestine migration of Tunisian youth before and after the revolution and to identify the reasons why they want to emigrate, Romdhane Ben Amor, communication officer at FTDES said in an interview with TAP Friday.

"FTDES has continuously pointed to the failure of the Tunisian development model, refected in the increase in illegal migration," he said, with almost 25,000 Tunisian youth who left the country illegally during the events of the 2011 Revolution.

He also indicated that figures have continuously increased after 2011, along with a rise in the number of missing persons.

"We believed that the approaches adopted by successive governments in managing the issue of illegal migration would be able to provide alternative solutions, apart from the agreements signed with the European Union, but no improvement has been observed in the treatment of the economic and social situation of regions affected by illegal migration, "he said.

The study was carried out in December 2015 on a random sample of 1,200 young people in 6 governorates (Tunis, El Kef, Gafsa, Kasserine, Medenine, Mahdia). The sample is distributed between 53.3% men and 46.7% women. Regarding the level of education of respondents, 50% of the respondents interrupted their studies in secondary school, 27.6% have a university level, and 17% have a primary level. Among those surveyed, 24% are unemployed and 70% are job-seekers.

The results of the survey indicate that 21% of young people say they are ready to emigrate - even illegally - if the opportunity arises, and 15% say they are in contact with smugglers.