tunisia - The African Mirror

Jul

2023

Tunisia suspends salary payments for 17,000 teachers over protests

TUNISIA has suspended salary payments for 17,000 teachers and sacked 350 school principals over protests demanding an increase in pay, authorities said. The salary suspensions could affect about 30% of the country's primary school teachers and will escalate the conflict with the powerful UGTT union at a time when the North African country's citizens grapple with a dire economic crisis. As part of their protest, teachers in the country have refused to hand in school grades. "The student's failure to obtain school grades is a disaster and a crime against children," Education Minister Mahamed Ali Bougdiri said. Ikbel Azzabi, a…

Jul

2023

By BIRD STORY AGENCY

The rise of Nigerian rugby

SPORT

AFTER a long absence from serious regional or international rugby - dominated in Africa by South Africa, Kenya, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Madagascar and Tunisia - Nigeria has startled stalwarts in the African rugby scene by making it into a qualifying tournament for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. A recent surge in performance indicates a promising future for the sport in Africa's most populous nation, with the Black Stallions just one tournament away from securing a spot in the 2024 Olympics. The team's talent, determination - and a new coach in Steve Lewis - were all on display at the Mauritius…

Jul

2023

By TAREK AMARA

Rights group urges Tunisia to halt collective expulsions of African migrants

NEWS

TUNISIA should halt collective expulsions of sub-Saharan African migrants and urgently enable access to humanitarian services for those the government sent to a dangerous area of the Tunisia-Libya border, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. Tunisia has removed hundreds of the migrants to a desolate area along the border, a Tunisian rights group and a lawmaker said on Wednesday, with witnesses reporting dozens more put on outbound trains following days of violence. Disturbances between migrants and residents went on for a week in the port of Sfax, and one Tunisian was killed. Residents complained of disorderly behaviour by migrants and migrants complained of racist…

Jul

2023

By TAREK AMARA

Tunisia removes hundreds of migrants to desert border region -rights group, lawmaker

NEWS

TUNISIA has removed hundreds of sub-Saharan African migrants to a desolate area along the border with Libya, a local rights group and a lawmaker said, with witnesses reporting dozens more put on outbound trains following days of violence. Disturbances between migrants and residents went on for a week in the port city of Sfax, and one Tunisian was killed, police said. Residents complained of disorderly behaviour by migrants, while migrants complained of racist harassment. Thousands of undocumented African migrants have flocked to Sfax in recent months with the goal of setting off for Europe in boats run by human traffickers, amounting…

Jul

2023

By The African Mirror

Tunisia national guard officer stabbed, police arrest attacker

NEWS

A man stabbed a national guard officer in La Goulette, a suburb of the capital Tunis, the interior ministry said, the second such attack targeting the police in two weeks. Police quickly arrested the suspect, the ministry said. The national guard officer was taken to a hospital and his condition was listed as stable. The reasons for the attack are unknown. Last month, a policeman died after a man fatally stabbed him on duty outside the Brazilian embassy in Tunis. Thomson Reuters Foundation

Jun

2023

By The African Mirror

UN rights chief urges Tunisian leader to stop curbing media freedoms

MEDIA FREEDOM

UNITED Nations human rights chief Volker Turk called on Tunisia to stop restricting media freedoms and said it was criminalizing independent journalism since President Kais Saied seized wide powers in 2021. Freedom of speech and media were key gains for Tunisians after the 2011 revolution that ousted autocratic President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and triggered the Arab Spring protests. But activists and journalists say freedom of speech faces a serious threat under Saied's rule. "The crackdown earlier this year against judges, politicians, labour leaders, businesspeople and civil society actors has now spread to target independent journalists, who are increasingly…

Jun

2023

By The African Mirror

Tunisia frees prominent journalist after two days detention

NEWS

A TUNISIAN judge ordered the release of prominent journalist Zied Heni two days after he was arrested over accusations he had insulted President Kais Saied. His release followed a campaign of solidarity with him and criticism that the authorities were clamping down on freedom of speech, a key gain won by Tunisians after the 2011 revolution that ended the authoritarian rule of the late President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Saied seized extra powers in 2021 when he shut down the elected parliament and moved to rule by decree and then assumed authority over the judiciary. "What happened was a…

Jun

2023

By TAREK AMARA

Tunisia tourist revival a rare bright spot for crisis-hit economy

NEWS

TUNISIA is set for a strong tourist season with visitor numbers nearing pre-pandemic levels, a government official told Reuters, bringing some badly needed foreign currency into an economy mired in crisis as bankruptcy threatens state finances. Tourism typically accounted for around 7% of Tunisia's gross domestic product but visitor numbers collapsed during the COVID pandemic, putting extra strain on an economy that was already in trouble. However, authorities now expect about 8.5 million tourists this year, 90% of the 9.4 million in 2019, the last year before the pandemic, and a big jump from the 6.4 million last year, Tourism Ministry official…

Jun

2023

By The African Mirror

Tunisia: President wants to tax the rich

NEWS

TUNISIAN President Kais Saied suggested raising taxes on richer people could be an alternative to socially painful reforms as a means to secure an international financial rescue package. Tunisia's government negotiated a preliminary agreement in October with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $1.9 billion loan in return for cuts to subsidies and the public sector wage bill and reform of state-owned companies. Credit ratings agencies have warned that Tunisia faces a possible default on sovereign debt without the loan, which is also expected to unlock more bilateral financing. The IMF has said Tunisia needs to put its finances…

Jun

2023

By TAREK AMARA and ANGUS MCDOWALL

Tunisia’s financial crisis leaves the sick struggling to find medicine

NEWS

SICK Tunisians face a frantic struggle to find some medicines because the cash-strapped state has reduced imports, leaving doctors unable to control debilitating health problems and patients turning to informal markets for their medication. "The issue of missing medicine has become very hard for patients. We have a real problem with some medicines for which there are no generics available," said Douha Maaoui Faourati, a Tunis doctor specialising in kidney and blood pressure disease. Faourati has had to ask patients to try to get drugs from Europe, including ones used to control dangerously irregular heartbeat, swelling and clotting, for which…