Inside Story - Tunisia's unemployment crisis

I apologise but this is a very hurriedly put together post so please excuse my writing style...content in this case is more important.

I have been paying great attention to the situation over in Tunisia at the moment. I first learnt about the protests through Al Jazeera around the Christmas period. I had up to this point imagined Tunisia as a country of plenty with a booming tourist and textiles industry. I like many others had no idea of the high levels of Unemployment and corruptions that Exist in Tunisia. Maybe I had heard a few snippets as I am privy to some very politically minded people. But if I was so ignorant to the truth how can I expect the average Joe to know the situation there.

Tunisia is run by a dictator, a man who runs a one party state where he has been the unquestionable leader for several decades.

Who takes from the country what he wishes and desire for no thought to the people he is supposed to govern. Ben Ali and his cronies are so corrupt that the idea to invest in Tunisia has become abhorrent to even it's own resident business men and women. Investing in Tunisia is like investing in a black hole. you have no idea where you money is going and what you will receive in return.

The gamble is just too much. This has led to a high level of unemployment especially amongst the younger generation. Tunisia's lack of non manual jobs has led to unemployment levels of up to 48% for Tunisian women and 23 % for men.

The young people in Tunisia are desperate for an opportunity to use the skills that they have been gained in University. Many are left with no choice to but to leave for other countries such as Libia. But can we just expect all the young people in Tunisia just to leave their families and go..that is not the solution.

In fact the recent riots were sparked by the attempted suicide of a young graduate called Mohammed Bouazizi reduced to illegally selling fruit and vegetables from a street cart to survive. When his produce was confiscated by the police it was too much for him and he doused himself in petrol and set him self alight.

Here was a man highly educated having to reduce himself to breaking the law to survive. Can you even imagine the desperation he felt to have committed such an act as suicide.

Well the youth of Tunisia do so they came out onto the streets to peacefully protest against the corruption in the government. This was not a protest organised by any particular group or organisation but rather an uprising of the people to voice their beliefs.

We in the UK were outraged by the recent handling of the student protesters in London. We were angry and disgusted by the police charging us with battens and horses. Well just a 2 hour plane ride away the young people in Tunisia are being murdered for speaking out against their government.

The official figures vary but there have been over 50 recorded deaths during the protests as well as numerous injuries from police brutality or from actually being gassed. In fact as I write this My Tunisian flat mate has just informed me that today a 14 year old male protester was murdered. I remember being so sickened when I heard that our police held 14 year olds in the kettles and denied them food and water. Now imagine one of those young people shot for attending the same protest. We would be up in arms, there is no way that we would allow such an act. Yet just two hours away in a modern westernised tourist destination this has just happened and yet the world silently watches on.

When governments are reduced to killing children to squash an up rising you know that there is something fundamentally flawed in all its policies, that it is so inherently corrupt that you have no option but to burn it to the ground and start again. This is not just about jobs but corruption that is so deeprooted in Ben Ali's adminstration that its like a cancer slowly killing the country and it's residents.

Murder and brutality not being enough for Ben Ali he has now imposed an 8 o'clock curfew on the Tunisian people, any one caught breaking this faces immediate arrest and detention. What kind of madness is this? Ben Ali is creating a prison of Tunisia one in which any rebellion is met with brutality and death. With no excuses made for age or gender. This is the worst form of brutality to scare a people into submission. While the country crumbles in his iron fist Ben Ali has sent his wife's family to safety in Canada.

So while they enjoy all the pleasures Canada has to offer, while their children run free in parks and forests the Real Children of Tunisia are being imprisoned and murdered.

Ben Ali has censored all media coverage in Tunisia with Channels such as Al Jazeera now being banned from the country. It is trying to sweep it's oppression under the carpet, and we are compliant in helping him do this by remaining quite. Even today I learnt of a young man that has been arrested and imprisoned for simply posting information on his Facebook in Tunisia.

I wish that I could get out to Tunisia and get photos to show the truth of the situation, but I know that if Ben Ali has banned media coverage and major organisations cant' get in or out I have no choice but to watch in anger and frustration from the side lines.

However getting frustrated and screaming at the computer screen is not going to help the Tunisian people. We need to be more constructive in our support. So what can we do?

Firstly there is an initial protest outside the Tunisian embassy at 5pm tomorrow. Please attend and show your support. I am intending to get pics which will be circulated in the Tunisian community to show them that we are beside them and not silenced to their plight. Hopefully this is the first of many. I know it is very last moment but we have no time to waste if innocent children are being murdered we must mobilise. Please I implore you try to attend this protest, if you cannot please pass this blog or info to as many people as you can. Below is the address for the embassy as well as info on how to writ to your MP and a sample letter.

People let's show that Evil Dictator Ben Ali that the world is no longer silent to his crimes and we stand side by side with the people of Tunisia

I thank you all

The Tunisian Embassy 29 Prince’s Gate--SW7 1QG London, United Kingdom

Please follow these simple steps to write to your MP:

1- Go to www.writetothem.com and enter your postcode, and click GO
2- Click on your MP's name.
3- Enter your name and details and copy-paste the message below, update and personalise as required, and submit
4- Shortly after submitting you will receive an email asking you to confirm your letter, click on the link in the email.
5- Done, you letter is sent.
6-Please forward this message to your contacts.


Sample Letter

[Your MP]
[Your MP's address]


RE: Dozens of protesters killed in Tunisia during protests against youth unemployment, government’s corruption and lack of public freedoms


Dear [MP]


I am writing to you as one of your constituents to draw your attention to the tragic events unfolding in Tunisia.


At least fifty protesters have been shot dead by police during nationwide protests that have taken place in various towns and cities, particularly in the central west of the country, while dozens of journalists, lawyers, bloggers and human rights activists have been arrested and subjected to mistreatment.

The protests were initially sparked by the suicide attempt of a young graduate, Mohammed Bouazizi, who set himself on fire in desperation to protest against youth unemployment (he later died in hospital) in the town of Sidi Bouzid. This was followed by a number of other suicide attempts as well as a wave of protests around the country.

The protests have been joined by students, trade unions, lawyers and others. Thousands of lawyers went on a general strike following the mistreatment and arrest of many lawyers during an attempted sit-in on 31 December.

The Tunisian authorities' response has been a brutal crackdown on these legitimate expressions of dissent, through the use of tear gas and live bullets against unarmed protesters.

As noted by Amnesty International, Tunisian authorities have also sought to prevent the spreading of information on the protests by enforcing a media blackout and by blocking websites and closing the email accounts of Internet activists, in particular those using Facebook.

This is taking place following decades of systematic repression, corruption, and silencing of all voices of dissent, whether through trade unions, political parties, or independent civil society associations. Tunisia has been condemned as one of the top "enemies of the press" and "enemies of the Internet" alongside countries such as China and Iran by international groups such as the Committee for the Protection of Journalists and Reporters Without Borders.

Against this alarming situation, I urge you to call on the British Foreign Secretary to urgently summon the Tunisian ambassador to demand the following:
- That an end be put to the use of force against protesters, and that those responsible for the deaths and injuries caused to protesters be held to account.
- That all those arrested during the protests be immediately released.
- That Tunisians be allowed to express their grievances and protest freely.
- That an end be put to the media blackout and the blocking of Internet websites and accounts.

The EU is Tunisia's number one trading partner, and Britain has large investments in the country (British Gas is the largest foreign investor in Tunisia). Under the EU partnership agreements, Tunisia pledged to "strengthen democracy and political pluralism by the expansion of participation of political life and the embracing of all human rights and fundamental freedoms". For many years Tunisia has consistently failed to honour those pledges, with complete impunity. It is now seeking to raise its status to an advanced partner with the EU.

Britain must not allow Tunisia to continue to violate human rights and freedoms with impunity. It must exert pressure on the Tunisian government to honour its pledges. Urgent action is required to prevent further loss of life and the escalation of events.

Yours sincerely,
[Your name]

http://www.writetothem.com/