Morning Star.png Tunisia: Curfew Imposed as Protests Escalate James Tweedie, The Morning Star, London, 23 January 2106 Tunisia imposed a nationwide overnight curfew yesterday as protests over youth unemployment spread across the country. In an echo of the 2010 popular uprising that heralded the start of the Arab Spring, a wave of unrest has rocked the country since the death of a young unemployed man on Sunday. University graduate Ridha Yahyaoui was electrocuted in the city of Kasserine as he climbed an electricity pylon to protest at his rejection from a government job. His comrades said he was blacklisted from all civil service posts for his trade union activities. Police stations came under attack overnight on Thursday and security officers used tear gas to repel protesters throwing stones and petrol bombs. In housing estates on the outskirts of the capital Tunis, roving groups of people pillaged a bank and looted shops and warehouses, and a policeman was killed on Wednesday when protesters overturned his car. Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid cut short a visit to France in response.“We have a set of policies to try to solve this issue, which is one of this government’s main challenges,” he said after his meeting with the French president. “We don’t have a magic wand. We can’t solve the problem of unemployment in one go.” The left-wing al-Massar (Democratic and Social Path) party has called for an investigation into the circumstances of Mr Yahyaoui’s death. It also expressed its “full and unconditional support for the unemployed and marginalised in their protests and claims.” The UGT trade union federation also backed the protests and called on the government to solve the unemployment crisis. The overall jobless rate is 15 per cent — but 30 per cent among young people. The 2010 protests began on December 18, the day after street trader Mohammed Bouazizi burned himself to death in Sidi Bouzid. Mr Bouazizi, the sole breadwinner for his family of eight, was driven to suicide after a police officer confiscated his vegetable cart and insulted him when he tried to pay the 10 dinar (£3.40) fine. The uprising led to the overthrow of the government of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who had been president since 1987. From: http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-0644-Tunisia-Curfew-imposed-as-protests -escalate#.VqM9Kvl9601 -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
