Jobless protesters clashed with police on Wednesday (January 20) in the central Tunisian city of Kasserine as anger over rising unemployment in the North African country triggered demonstrations in the capital Tunis and several other cities.
At least one policeman was killed in Feriana after he was attacked by protesters, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry said.
Large crowds burned tyres and chanted: “Work, freedom, dignity” during a second day of demonstrations that erupted in Kasserine after an unemployed man killed himself, apparently after he was rejected for a job.
The death and protests evoked memories of Tunisia’s 2011 “Arab Spring” uprising that broke out when a struggling young market vendor committed suicide, unleashing a wave of anger that forced long-time leader Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali to flee and inspired protests across the Arab world.
Protesters had stayed out on the streets overnight, defying a curfew imposed on Tuesday.
Police fired clouds of tear gas after protesters tried to storm a police station in Kasserine, a Reuters witness said. Burning tyres blocked streets as police chased down groups of protesters.
“We are defending our right to work, the only way to be heard by the government is the clashes; no other way. We have asked for five years but they have never responded,” said Mohamed Khadhraoui, an unemployed protester.
Unemployment in the North African country rose to 15.3 percent by the end of 2015, compared with 12 percent in 2010, driven by weak economic growth and a decline in investment in both the public and private sectors coupled with a rise in the number of university graduates, who now comprise one-third of jobless Tunisians. Kasserine is among Tunisia’s most impoverished areas, with its highest regional unemployment at about 30 percent.
“We are a family of eight people, who is in charge? My sister! She works as a street cleaner despite having a university degree. 234 dinars (110 USD) for eight people, could you imagine that? We are renting a house, the owner has tried to kick us out for three years. What could encourage me to wake up? Every morning, it’s the same silly life. Hope? It dies. For me, sunrise is not a new hope,” said Kawther Rahimi, clutching her diploma in “Services And Administration.”
Dozens of young jobless men and women gathered at the governate building, where some staged a sit-in. One young man, wearing wrist shackles and a sign stuck to his chest, which read: “The key to my freedom = work,” accused the government of failing to deliver on its promises.
“The government has to find radical solutions to this region. In our new constitution there is an article that has not been enacted yet. It’s about positive action toward interior regions. Nothing has been done to achieve that. All your political and partisan promises are nothing. There’s nothing!”
Seeking to calm protests, President Beji Caid Essebsi’s government announced on Wednesday it would seek to hire more than 6,000 young unemployed people from Kasserine, and start construction projects in the region
Despite a shift to democracy since the toppling of Ben Ali, many Tunisians worry more about unemployment, high living costs and the marginalisation of rural towns – all factors that helped fuel the 2011 uprising.
Three major Islamist militant assaults last year – shootings at a tourist hotel and a Tunis museum as well as a suicide bombing on troops in the capital – have hurt the economy, particularly the tourism industry. (Reuters)