Networks of bogus jobs and prostitution have recently emerged in Tunisia under the guise of recruitment agencies for jobs abroad.
Unaware of the scammers’ schemes, the victims, desperate for work, would hand over jewelry or money in exchange for their services. Once the money was in their pockets, the suspect would disappear.
Young Tunisians are urged to be vigilant and avoid these illegal channels, as many fraudulent foreign agencies constantly publish fictitious and misleading job offers and demand large sums of money from jobseekers without actually investing it abroad.
To combat these scams, the Ministry of Vocational Training and Employment has launched a series of awareness-raising campaigns via newspapers, television and radio to warn Tunisians and encourage them to be cautious and vigilant.
The ministry issued a public statement on Thursday warning against fraudulent job offers abroad.
Following repeated reports of fraud and extortion faced by many jobseekers wishing to work abroad, the Ministry indicated that illegal recruitment agencies, which promise employment contracts, accommodation and other services in return for the payment of large sums of money, were to blame.
He recommended that jobseekers should only deal with licensed recruitment agencies, which are authorized to operate in the international labor market and are subject to monitoring and evaluation by the Ministry.
The Ministry has provided jobseekers with an updated list of these approved agencies and companies, which is available on the Ministry’s official website at www.emploi.gov.tn.
The Ministry stresses that only the National Agency for Employment and Self-Employment, the Tunisian Agency for Technical Cooperation and the 60 approved private recruitment agencies are legally authorized to act as intermediaries in the field of employment abroad.
It reiterated that it would no longer limit itself to initiating legal proceedings, but would also take administrative measures, in coordination with the ministries concerned, to close down unlicensed employment agencies abroad that are involved in prostitution and human trafficking.
More than 960 Tunisians defrauded by fake work contracts
According to official figures published in 2019, the number of Tunisian victims of fictitious employment contract fraud in Qatar is estimated at 960 people at the beginning of 2018.
Fake employment agencies also lured young Tunisians into prostitution and mafia networks.
A number of necessary measures have been taken to close down unauthorized recruitment agencies, in coordination with the other ministries concerned by this issue.
