October 24, 2008 -- For decades, Algeria has been forced to confront the problem of illegal emigration. A new, more positive phenomenon, however, has recently emerged: young Algerians who settled in Europe are crossing the Mediterranean in the opposite direction and returning home to play a part in their country's development.

Customs officials are recording an increase in repatriated Algerians for the first time in years. No recent statistics are available, though 5,000 have returned between 2001 and 2006, according to Algeria's Centre for Applied Economics (CREAD). The figure might be small compared to how many leave every year – 27,000 to France alone – but the returning emigrés bring new hope for the future of Algeria.

In September, Djamel Ould Abbes, Minister for National Solidarity, Family and National Community Abroad announced a five-year plan aimed at encouraging Algerian expatriates to return to their homeland.

New bodies such as the Council for the Overseas Community (CCNE) and the Algerian International Migration Research Centre (OAMI) will work to forge closer ties with the overseas Algerian community.

"These structures look to improve understanding about this community abroad, estimated at 7 million people, established in the four corners of the world," Abbes said. Algerians recognise the need for a government plan to ease the re-integration process.

"It's a wonderful thing to encourage people to come back, but that’s not enough on its own. They need to be given support," said Saleha, whose brother has lived in France for 30 years. Having worked for long periods in Europe or the Gulf, entrepreneurial Algerians are finding reasons to head home. The phenomenon is the subject of a recent study by CREAD.

A survey of 6,000 people living in Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco revealed that people who return home tend to be highly educated. Nearly half have secondary or university-level qualification.

Upon their return, almost 32% of those surveyed launched (mostly self-financed) investment projects in the agriculture, manufacturing, trade and construction sectors.

"Migrants are still very attached to their country of origin, hence their desire to return," said lead study researcher Mohamed Saib Musette.

"Making the transition from employee to entrepreneur – a life-enhancing turnaround – is often the spur that drives them to come back for good," the sociologist added.

To encourage Algerian nationals to invest their money in their home country, a new government directive raises the ceiling amount for property exemption from customs tariffs by about 30,000 euros, Echorouk reported on October 15th. The new directive requires any Algerian national seeking permanent repatriation and the customs exemption on his property to submit a document proving he has ended his residence in the foreign state.

For younger expatriates, it is about more than preserving their assets from customs duties; host countries are all they have ever known. Yet they are still finding their way back to their ancestral land.

Hayet is like many Algerians. She did not choose to emigrate – it was her parents who decided to leave for France in the 1970s. After excelling in her studies at a prestigious French school, she developed a passion for work in the non-profit sector.

After a brief visit to Algeria, she decided to stay on and work for an NGO.

"I work with young people who have lost all hope," she explained. "They take drugs, they’re violent and all they dream about is getting away. Our job is to tell them that they can make their dreams come true right here."

"Emigration is not some kind of ticket to El Dorado," Hayet cautioned. "If you want to succeed, you can do it in your own country. The reason we’re coming back from Europe to Algeria is that there is so much to be done here, and it’s only by working together that we can succeed."

France's 4 million expatriates bear no resemblance to the manual labourers who dominated the first Algerian migration wave, Consul-General Abderrahmane Meziane Chérif said last month in Paris during Abbes' visit to explain the government's new outreach plan.

Members of this new generation offer "international and global" skills, Cherif said, adding that they are a "real treasure for Algeria".

It is clear why the government is eager for them to bring their talents back to the other side of the Mediterranean.

Mourad is exactly the kind of emigrant Algeria hopes to see repatriated: the highly-skilled professional who achieved his ambitions far away but was later drawn back to native soil.

He decided to return to Algeria after a fourteen-year absence. A business school graduate and son of well-to-do parents, Mourad left Algeria in 1995 for France, since he already had two uncles there. He immediately landed a job in marketing.

Little did he imagine that he would ever come back home. "In France I had everything I needed to be happy. I got married and became the father of a little boy. I was earning well and there was nothing making me want to leave the comfort I had gotten used to."

However, during holidays in Algeria, his friends told him it was a good time to invest and be part of the development process in his native country.

"I have to admit that I was sceptical at first. It took over a year and a lot of soul-searching to make up my mind," he said. With the benefit of hindsight, he realises his fears were unfounded. Mourad is now the head of an advertising agency and an employer.

"The gamble paid off," he told Magharebia.

"I want young Algerians to know they have another option besides becoming a harraga or suicide bomber. I want them to know that they can have hopes for the future."