Tunisia approves reopening of Libya land border to passengers

By Sami Zaptia.

London, 24 October 2020:

Tunisian Prime Minister, Hichem Michichi, announced that he had granted permission to his country’s authorities to open the Ras Jedir border crossing with Libya.

This came during a Tunisian Ministerial session yesterday which discussed the outcomes of the recent negotiations with Libya regarding the resumption of trade exchange and the movement of people between the two countries. The land border reopening will need to respect the health protocol agreed between Libya and Tunisia.

It will be recalled that movement by land and air between the two countries stopped completely with the onset of the spread of the Corona pandemic and the complete closure of borders the two countries imposed to prevent the spread of the virus.

It will also be recalled that on 21 October  Libya and Tunisia agreed on an initial agreement to formulate an urgent unified health protocol to pave way for the reopening of the air space followed by land crossings.

The agreement came after a Libyan Foreign Ministry delegation met their Tunisian counterparts in Tunis on 20 October.

It must also be noted that the border between the two countries has been officially open for the crossing of goods but civil demonstrations in southern Tunisia have blocked the road to the Libyan border. Equally, Tunisian goods, mainly fresh fruits, have been exported to Libya by sea freight.

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