Four thousand specialised Tunisian workers will gain permits to work in Italy under an accord signed on Friday by foreign minister Antonio Tajani and his Tunisian counterpart Nabil Ammir that creates new legal migration channels.
Around 91% of around 140,000 illegal migrants who reached Italy by boat this year arrived from Tunisia, with the tiny island of Lampedusa bearing the brunt of the landings.
Boat migrant arrivals in Italy have almost doubled this year compared to the same period of 2022 and Italy's government has been pressing the European Union to enact a July deal with Tunisia.
The deal signed by EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen included a pledge of one billion euros in aid to Tunisia to help its crisis-hit economy and stem migrant departures from its shores.
