Some fifteen young people set out to sea from Zarzis. Only one survived. Despite the ever-growing death toll and the Europe-supported crackdown on departures, hundreds of Tunisians still dream of making the crossing.
Prisons in Tunisia: Heat Wave, A Double Sentence
Living within a few square meters, sharing a bed (when the opportunity presents itself), drinking, eating, and sleeping all in the same claustrophobic space, with no view other than the surrounding concrete walls. As Tunisia staggers through crippling heat, thousands of prisoners are serving a double sentence: prison time and the indecent conditions of their detention. Several suspicious deaths within the span of a few days reflect a reality in Tunisian prisons that the government has failed to come to terms with.
Parliament-Government-Presidency: The Unannounced Rupture
Relations between Tunisian Parliament and the government have never been so deleterious. The majority of ministers no longer attend debates. The President, for his part, has no qualms about treating his ministers with condescension and, when difficulties arise, tossing them to public condemnation. A scenario which reveals a rupture at every level of Tunisia’s decision-making infrastructure.
Migrants Tortured: Tunisia Accused, EU Complicit
Tunisia. Four migrants. Cages in the desert, sales made to Libyan smugglers, sea wrecks provoked by authorities. For the first time, these abuses have been brought before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. A tribunal which Tunisia has taken great pains to make less accessible for the victims of human rights violations.
Tunisia-EU: The Hidden Cost of Energy Concessions
By granting Europe so many concessions that drain our land and water resources, the government contradicts its own rhetoric on sovereignty. The investigation detailed in this article describes the ravages of a “green” transition that is being rolled out in haste, and in the absence of transparency.
Migrants in Tunisia: The Chilling Reality of Phantom Children
Without legal status, school or healthcare, thousands of migrant children are growing up in the blindspot of the Tunisian government. Ever since the suspension of the right to asylum and under pressure of growing violence, the reality that these children face—begging, human trafficking, arbitrary detention, forced deportation to Algeria or Libya—is chilling.
Migrants in Tunisia: The Fable of “Voluntary Return”
After facing years of criticism regarding its brutal immigration management, the Tunisian government has found a new label for its mass expulsions: “voluntary return.” Behind this term borrowed from humanitarian aid, testimonies, data and international law tell an altogether different story.
Gabes: Struggle for Survival in the Face of Denial
Far from losing momentum, the protest movement which began in Gabes is breathing new life into social struggles in Tunisia. And continued repression in all of its forms is only making it grow stronger.
Superstition, Fishing and Pollution: Three Fatal Threats for Sea Turtles
Why aren’t awareness campaigns for fishermen and citizens enough to stop the slaughter of sea turtles? How can legal frameworks be adapted to the broader environmental challenges in Tunisia today? Investigation.
Medication shortage in Tunisia: Symptom of a failing healthcare system
Faced with a failing public health system that has caused the severe shortage of medications in Tunisia, young doctors and union activists are mobilizing and proposing solutions. But the authorities remain in denial, and citizens can no longer wait on the government to ensure their access to adequate healthcare.
Tunisia: Association of Magistrates Clings to its Independence
Ultimate safeguard against the government’s arbitrary use of power, Tunisian judges have themselves fallen victim to authoritarianism. The combat led by Anas Hmaidi, president of the Association of Tunisian Magistrates that has been targeted by the current regime, marks a new era of resistance.
Tunisia: Where Solidarity Economy Fails, Women Fill in the Gaps
Conceived as a model to help society’s most vulnerable groups—including women, Tunisia’s law on social and solidarity economy has, in fact, had the opposite effect.
Women Lead the Struggle Against Industrial Pollution in Gabes
Women are the first victims of air pollution produced by the Tunisian Chemical Group in Gabes. Today, women of the region are at the forefront of an unprecedented social movement, fighting to ensure the future of their children and of generations to come. Special report.
Sub-Saharan Migrants in Tunisia: Young Mothers on the Fringes of Society
In Tunisia, migrant women give birth in precarious conditions, exposing their newborns to illness and malnutrition. Accused of contributing to a so-called “demographic change” within the country, they face administrative obstacles, racism and poverty. Their survival depends largely on the charity and limited assistance of international organizations.
Journalism in Tunisia: Between political legacy and historical contingencies
Since 2022, freedom of expression and the right to information have suffered serious setbacks. Reforms initiated have failed to set up real safeguards against the derailing of the country’s “democratic transition” for political and personal ends. It is precisely the media’s entanglement with political power that constitutes the main handicap to its liberalization and full development.
UGTT-Kais Saied: 2026, a decisive year?
With a general strike and special congress drawing near, 2026 promises to be a decisive year for the union organization founded by Farhat Hached. In December, the UGTT’s long-standing secretary general, Noureddine Taboubi, resigned from his position just as the Union gears up for a nationwide strike. Will the Union recover its place among the country’s dynamic forces, despite a destabilizing internal conflict and government attacks aiming to bring the organization to its knees?
Criminalizing Dissent: Six Stories from Tunisia’s Political and Media Crackdown
Tunisia’s political and media landscape has changed drastically since 2021, with expanded use of criminal law against journalists, opposition figures, and commentators critical of authorities. This article presents the profiles of six individuals targeted within the scope of the government’s crackdown on dissidence: journalist Chadha Hadj Mbarek, media commentator Mourad Zeghidi, opposition politician Issam Chebbi, party leader Abir Moussi, young journalist and political activist Siwar Bargaoui, and lawyer–politician Ghazi Chaouachi.
Gabes rises up against cancerous Chemical Group
In this city, to breathe is to inhale a toxic cocktail of sulfuric acid, carbon dioxide, ammonia and heavy metals. Today, the possibility of breathing air that does not kill has become a collective dream for the residents of Gabes.
