Whether they have endured the trauma of rape in their own countries, along their migration journey or after arriving in Tunisia, their lives are a constant struggle for survival that is marked by pitfalls and exploitation. Their stories, collected by Nawaat, attest to this violence.
« Operation Al-Aqsa Flood » has marked Kais Saied’s divergence from Tunisia’s traditional stance favoring a two-state solution, a position established by Habib Bourguiba in 1965. The present article offers a glimpse into Tunisia’s diplomatic evolution regarding major regional and international conflicts.
A new report by Refugees International sheds light on the systematic human rights violations targeting refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in Tunisia since the arbitrary expulsions carried out in July, and calls for Europe and the US to reconsider their funding—and fundamental approach—for managing migration across the Mediterranean.
More and more, Tunisian youth are turning away from politics to focus on their personal trajectories. With the outlook grim for national salvation, young people are seeking out their own paths to individual salvation. What is the situation of these youth? What do they imagine for their future? Report.
Agricultural lands make up 62% of Tunisia’s total surface area. But every year, over 20 million hectares of these lands disappear due to erosion and urbanization. The social and environmental consequences of this dual phenomenon are irreversible.
Although they are accused of stealing jobs from Tunisians, undocumented immigrants nevertheless respond to a labor shortage across a number sectors that are spurned by the local workforce. Regularizing the status of foreign workers in Tunisia would not only put an end to the scapegoating and forceful expulsion endured by immigrants, but would also stem the exploitation to which they are exposed.
The question is nothing short of provocative in light of the president’s ever nationalist discourse. But the facts remain. As it activates certain elements of policies recommended by the IMF, Carthage appears to be settling into place beneath the wing of its friends to the West.
«Photo or caricature?» However burning the question may be, we will not answer it in the present editorial. Instead, we will leave it to the experts at the Ministry of Culture to weigh the gravity of our «error». What we will acknowledge here is the significance of the incident, an accurate and barefaced representation of the extraordinary (mis)adventures that unfold under Saied’s New Order.
Never has the health of a Tunisian president been the center of so much public attention. The spotlight was on Kais Saied’s physical condition from the moment he announced his candidacy for president. After refraining from commenting on rumors relating to his mental health, the president responded for the first time to remarks about his absence from the end of March through early April 2023.
What do the designation of a new prime minister and the public admonition of national television’s CEO have in common? Both highlight President Kais Saied’s new priority to « cleanse » the administration. Envisioned as a means to further consolidate the regime’s grip on power, the planned purge may in fact undermine the fragile web of alliances that is holding it together.
Over the past year, Tunisians have struggled to keep their pantries stocked. Necessities, especially staple food items, are often missing from the shelves of local grocery stores and supermarkets. These ongoing shortages have more than one cause.
In 2017, President Beji Caid Essebsi rescinded a circular from 1973 prohibiting civil registrars from establishing marriage contracts between Tunisian women—inherently presumed to be Muslim—and non-Muslim men. Lauded by feminists, the decision has ultimately proved ineffective as notaries and municipal authorities continue to apply Islamic sharia in this context.
Each year, thousands of Tunisians attempt the perilous journey across the Mediterranean in order to reach Italy. But dreams of an Italian promised land fall away as migrants are faced with a harsh reality. Once ashore, Tunisian workers enter into a life of precarity.
After having left government to the task of establishing a program to eliminate subsidies for basic goods, President Kais Saied has switched gears.
A number of NGOs have expressed indignation at the recent humanitarian crisis involving migrants driven out of Sfax, and the government is not impressed. Associations openly critical of authorities are blaring on the president’s radar, as acts of intimidation targeting certain organizations portend an open war against civil society’s dissenting voices.
Her departure from the Kasbah has been as discreet as her arrival. A late night post on the Office of the President’s Facebook page informed Tunisians of Prime Minister Najla Bouden’s dismissal from office. After less than two years serving at the head of government, this unassuming university professor is leaving the field with an underwhelming track record in confronting socioeconomic issues. What is remarkable about Bouden’s term is how she stood by an increasingly authoritarian regime.
For years now, daily life on the island of Djerba has been punctuated by water cuts. In response to global warming and water stress, the Association Jlij for the Marine Environment has invested in the restoration of fsegui, public water cisterns dating from the colonial era.
Nurses, doctors, engineers, university students, restaurateurs…are leaving Tunisia in droves. The country is losing its skilled workforce to Europe and the Gulf countries, with no end to the exodus in sight.
