Protests in Algeria and Tunisia Triggered by Unemployment, Rising Food Prices and Government Corruption

Tunisia Protesters Defy Curfew in Capital

The unrest in Tunisia and Algeria was triggered by unemployment and rising food prices, respectively, but the roots of the unrest go further than economic factors. Protests in Tunisia erupted last month when Mohamed Bouazizi, a young unemployed university graduate from Sidi Bouzid, doused himself in gasoline and lit himself on fire in front of a local government building. Unable to find work in the formal sector, he had taken to selling fruits and vegetables informally but then police confiscated his merchandise and reportedly slapped him in public. His self-immolation was apparently an act of final despair. He died Jan. 4. Mr. Bouazizi’s startling act ignited the passions of thousands of Tunisians, first in Sidi Bouzid. They surged into the streets to protest not only high unemployment rates – the official unemployment rate in Tunisia is about 13 percent, though it is about twice that for young people – but also government corruption that shuts out all but the highly connected from economic opportunity. - Tunisia protests serve warning to autocratic Middle Eastern regimes, Christian Science Monitor, January 12, 2011



January 13, 2011

Christian Science Monitor - The protests in Tunisia over high unemployment rates continued in the capital overnight, with another death and a call for a strike as government appeasement efforts failed.

Protesters defied a curfew in Tunisia’s capital overnight, continuing to clash with police in a wave of unrest that has gripped the nation for three weeks and shows no signs of abating.

One man was reported killed in the fighting overnight, the first to die in Tunis since the protests reached the capital Wednesday. Sparked by despair over high unemployment rates, the riots have quickly come to embody the population’s deep anger over government corruption and the lack of political freedom as well. President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has ruled one of the most repressive police states in the region for 23 years, but many are now questioning how much longer his rule will last if he is unable to stop the unrest.

Reuters reports that despite a curfew issued in Tunis yesterday, protesters in at least two neighborhoods ransacked buildings and threw rocks at police, who used tear gas and gunshots fired into the air to beat back the crowds. Witnesses reported that a young man died after being shot in the head, and protesters gathered outside his home.

The government says that 23 people have died during the protests, but rights groups say there have been at least 35 to 50 deaths. Mr. Ben Ali has called the protesters terrorists, and government officials accuse a minority of extremists of hijacking protests and acting violently. They say that police have acted in self defense.

Reuters also reports that thousands of people were marching through the streets in Sidi Bouzid, the city in Tunisia’s interior where the protests began when a young man set himself on fire to protest unemployment and his treatment by police. An interactive map of the protests by Al Jazeera shows how they have spread and provides video footage of some events.

One witness said:

"It is not just about unemployment any more. It's about freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, all the freedoms."

Bloomberg reports that the military remained deployed on Tunis streets for the second day Thursday, and many businesses remained closed after the curfew ended at 6 am. A Tunis-area labor union has called for a two-hour strike Friday.

In attempts to quell the protests, Tunisia’s prime minister announced Wednesday that the interior minister had been fired, and that the government would release arrested protesters and conduct investigations into corruption. The day before, Ben Ali had promised to provide jobs for Tunisian youth and to create 300,000 new positions by the end of next year.

But these moves have not appeased a population that appears fed up with systemic corruption and repression. As University of Denver Professor Rob Prince reports on Tunisia-focused group blog Nawaat, the motto of the protesters has become “Yezzi Fock,” which means “It’s enough” in Tunisian dialect.

“Enough” refers to the high levels of unemployment in the country, the pervasive corruption, especially of the two ruling families and the decades of seething repression which has kept Zine Ben Ali in power now for 23 years.

The Christian Science Monitor reported Wednesday that the protests in Tunisia are a warning to regional autocratic regimes with similar political and economic situations.

The Tunisia protests, combined with the eruption of riots in neighboring Algeria last week and recent unrest in Jordan, are worrying signs for Cairo. Egypt, the Arab world's most populous country, also has a bulging youth population that has a far harder time landing jobs than other segments of society, and a tightly managed political system that has left little room for dissent.

And Foreign Policy reports that rumors – which turned out to be false – of a military coup in Tunisia illustrate the crisis in legitimacy for Ben Ali’s regime.



Tunisian President Flees as Protesters Claim Victory (January 14, 2011)

Food Prices Hike Fights Sparks Rioting in Algeria

Algeria is battling food riots throughout the North African state

January 10, 2011

World Tribune - The rioting was sparked in numerous cities in Algeria in protest of the sharp rise in food prices. Reports from Algeria cited two dead and 400 injured in clashes between police and demonstrators.

"More than 300 police and gendarmes have been wounded, while on the other side there are fewer than 100 hurt," Algerian Interior Minister Dahou Oul Kablia said.

Over the last few months, food prices have risen to what officials acknowledged as record levels. They included a 150 percent increase in the price of sugar and 75 percent rise in cooking oil.

The regime of President Abdul Aziz Bouteflika has vowed to reduce prices on staples by mid-January. Officials said the government has already held talks with food importers.

"Those behind the rise in basic food items have been greedy merchants," Algerian Trade Minister Mustafa Bin Badeh said.

The worst clashes were said to have taken place in Algiers. More than 100 people were injured in fighting between stone-throwing young men and anti-riot police. Police were said to have used tear gas and batons to disperse the violent protests, which began in the western city of Wehran on Jan. 5.

The rioters also targeted government buildings, police stations, banks and foreign companies. In one attack, the franchise for the French automobile manufacturer Renault was torched.

"Nothing can cast doubt on the resolute will of the state, under the direction of the president of the republic, to intervene whenever necessary to preserve the purchasing power of citizens in the face of any price increase," a government statement said.