Migratory waves often coincide with the failure of social movements to achieve their objectives. A recent report notes a spike in clandestine migration that correlates with failed protest movements in the Gafsa mining basin and in Tataouine. « Irregular migration has become a form of collective protest », observes sociologue Khaled Tababi. A form of protest in which women are increasingly taking part.
Modern decor, open space, young people bustling about. Nothing here would seem to indicate that this is a psychologial care center. And yet the A7kili Center is just this, dedicated to helping individuals in distress. Since the beginning of confinement, the center received about 400 calls a day—sign of a real need for psychological support.
A sea of cars fills the street from Bab Alioua to Bab Jazira. Dozens of people carrying plastic bags are on the lookout for available taxis which are few and far between. The closer one gets to Boumendil, the thicker the crowd becomes. In this souk, a hub for contraband, life is returning to normal as Aid draws near. But the threat of Coronavirus hovers all along this street that is teeming with foot traffic.
With touching and kissing banished from daily life and physical distancing encouraged, Covid-19 has not only taken its toll on social but also intimate relationships. Whether living under the same roof or separated by the restrictions that confinement imposes, couples are forced to navigate all the uncertainties that Coronavirus brings—health-related, psychological and, by extension, sexual.
According to the Minister of Women, Children and the Elderly, Asma Shiri Laabidi, violence against women in Tunisia has increased five-fold since March 2019. Since the start of the confinement period, several associations have red-flagged this trend. With its support centers set up in different regions, the Tunisian Association of Women Democrats (ATFD) warns about the increase both physical and symbolic violence against women. In an interview with Nawaat, ATFD president Yosra Frawes goes into detail.
Much like the governments of other countries, the Tunisian government was hesitant in taking drastic measures to stop the spread of the disease. To its credit, it acted faster than some other countries, though some actions such as closing air and maritime routes with Italy should have been taken much sooner. My observations below are based on collecting public data applied to the specific context in Tunisia, and using some of my training as a data scientist and predictive modeler. Below I’ve provided graphics, data, and alternative models in response to some pressing questions.
Since it first surfaced in China in December 2019, the Coronavirus has quickly spread across the globe. Over 90 thousand cases have been reported, resulting in three thousand deaths. In Tunisia, the first case of contamination was identified on March 2nd, a Tunisian national who had arrived by boat from Genoa on February 27. In Italy, the first death caused by the virus was announced on February 22. Since then, 2,502 deaths have been reported. In Algeria, the first case of the virus was announced on February 25, with eight more cases reported since. What is Tunisia doing to prevent the spread of Coronavirus?
Tunisian derja and literary Arabic are often perceived as rivalling languages. But the conflict runs deeper than what appears at the surface, a product of cultural, political and historical issues. It is not enough to simply question the use of one language versus another. Instead, we can ask: why use one language at the expense of the other? What drives the decision to use one language and abandon the other? Nawaat set out to find some answers.
[This report falls within the scope of activities carried out by the network of Independent Media on the Arab World. This regional collaboration includes Al-Jumhuriya (Syria), Assafir Al Arabi (Lebanon), Mada Masr (Egypt), Maghreb Emergent (Algeria), Mashallah News (Lebanon), Nawaat (Tunisia), 7iber (Jordan) and Orient XX1 (France).]
While the media tend never to establish any connection between “irregular immigration” and the “brain drain”, the motives behind these two types of emigration are far more similar than we are led to believe.
From March 4-8, the Ministry of Vocational Training and Employment launched Vocational Training, Private Initiatives and Employment week. Nawaat visited a training center in the suburbs of Tunis where official discourse doesn’t quite reflect reality.
Deterioration of the economic situation, soaring rent prices and feeble government intervention—all factors that contribute to an increase in the number of homeless individuals in the streets of Tunis, estimated at 3,000 in 2014. Ever more present on the streets, around transit stations, outside building entrances, in public gardens and elsewhere, they are a symptom of rampant social misery and marginalizing conservatism.
Mohamed Aziz Khlifi, 16 years old, is from the delegation of Bir Lahfay in Sidi Bouzid. Walid Lahmar, 27 years old, is from Bir Ali Ben Khelifa in Sfax. Mohamed Ali Ferjani, 32 years old, is originally from Chneni, Gabes. The three of them were on board a boat to cross illegally from the coast of Kerkennah to Italy on October 8, 2017. These are three survivors of the collision with a Tunisian military ship. After the “Skadra” incident, they have returned to the reality they had set out to escape.
While media outlets and Tunisia’s Ministry of Tourism are understandably eager to paint a convincing portrait of the country’s tourism come-back, not everyone sees growth from the same perspective. On the ground, Tunisia’s seaside hotels are mostly full, its beaches packed with locals and visitors from near and far. The shaded, winding passageways of Tunis’ Medina, a UNESCO World Heritage site, are also teeming with people. Does this mean that business is in full swing for the souk’s craftsmen and vendors? Nawaat took a walk up and down the Medina’s main tourist circuit to find out.
The last report of the International Crisis Group (ICG) about Tunisia diagnosed corruption and clientelism as the main problems plaguing Tunisia’s “national unity” government. Titled “Blocked Transition: Corruption and Regionalism in Tunisia”, it called for a more inclusive formal economy for business newcomers and entrepreneurs. It also drew attention to the fringe group of business leaders operating in the informal sector, and cited this group’s involvement in backing the protests occurring in the south of the country. That idea inspired a backlash of criticism concerning ICG’s framing of the conflict as an intra-elite struggle. Nawaat had a meeting with Michael Béchir Ayari, senior analyst for ICG Tunisia. Interview.
There are many obstacles in the establishment and management of new local authorities. Achieving decentralization and local democracy is not limited to parliamentary debates, creating new structures and drafting new laws. The region of Sidi Ali Ben Salem in Kairouan is witnessing a general uneasiness as it refuses to create the new municipality of Abida. Residents consider the plan to have been concocted unilaterally by the central government, who some claim did not take into account historical, technical and geographical considerations.
For over a month, the water supply in several delegations of Tunisia’s Mine Basin has been disrupted by intermittent cuts. The situation has suscitated protests in the towns of Borj El Akarema and Segui in Mdhila, where life has become insufferable for residents. While some accuse SONEDE for not assuming its responsibilities in the maintenance and management of water pipes, ostensibly weathered and rusty, others point a finger at the phosphate industry which exhausts water reserves and pollutes the rest. Nawaat left for Mdhila to meet with residents and farmers to learn more about the water issue.
Since 2014 when the process of decentralization was included in the country’s new constitution, political decisions still do not seem to take the south into consideration. Ongoing protests show that after decades of dictatorship, citizens no longer accept being silenced.
What is certain: the phenomenon of terrorism is here, a deep-seated crisis for which shooting a few terrorists to death is not the solution. As more than 5,000 Tunisians are currently fighting for al Qaeda and the Islamic State, officials and parliament members today are facing the controversial question of how the country will confront “jihadis” coming back home. The answer will be in the State’s actions and will determine whether we decide to be thirty seconds to ISIS, or else to get our act together.
