This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/14/world/africa/tunisian-discontent-reflected-in-protests-that-have-idled-mines.html
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Tunisian Discontent Reflected in Protests That Have Idled Mines | Tunisian Discontent Reflected in Protests That Have Idled Mines |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| GAFSA, Tunisia — Tunisians often say the first uprising of the Arab Spring began not in 2010 after the self-immolation of a fruit vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, but in 2008, when protests over corrupt hiring practices at the mines of Gafsa ran on for six months. It is a measure of the lingering challenges of Tunisia’s revolution that people here are still in revolt. | GAFSA, Tunisia — Tunisians often say the first uprising of the Arab Spring began not in 2010 after the self-immolation of a fruit vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, but in 2008, when protests over corrupt hiring practices at the mines of Gafsa ran on for six months. It is a measure of the lingering challenges of Tunisia’s revolution that people here are still in revolt. |
| In the towns of Moulares and Redeyef, protests have idled the phosphate mines — a cornerstone of the economy — for much of the last three years. Citizens regularly block roads and burn tires. Police and government officials are barely tolerated. | In the towns of Moulares and Redeyef, protests have idled the phosphate mines — a cornerstone of the economy — for much of the last three years. Citizens regularly block roads and burn tires. Police and government officials are barely tolerated. |
| “We will never stop this strike until we get a job,” said Bashir Mabrouki, 28, in a group of young people who huddled around a brazier while guarding a barricade of rocks and scrap metal that blocked shipments last month. “We are being played by the government and their fake promises.” | “We will never stop this strike until we get a job,” said Bashir Mabrouki, 28, in a group of young people who huddled around a brazier while guarding a barricade of rocks and scrap metal that blocked shipments last month. “We are being played by the government and their fake promises.” |
| The complaints are an enduring refrain even since the overthrow of President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011. They point to what many here see as the unfinished business of their revolution, and a problem endemic across North Africa: the failure to meet the aspirations of a youthful population. | |
| The joblessness and aimlessness of young people remain a deep well of volatility, whether or not countries took part in the Arab Spring. Youth unemployment in neighboring Algeria is at 21 percent, according to World Bank data. In Egypt it is 25 percent, and in Morocco, 18 percent. | The joblessness and aimlessness of young people remain a deep well of volatility, whether or not countries took part in the Arab Spring. Youth unemployment in neighboring Algeria is at 21 percent, according to World Bank data. In Egypt it is 25 percent, and in Morocco, 18 percent. |
| Here in Tunisia, where more than 30 percent of young people cannot find work, the Gafsa mines are in many ways emblematic of the challenges that governments face. | Here in Tunisia, where more than 30 percent of young people cannot find work, the Gafsa mines are in many ways emblematic of the challenges that governments face. |
| Jobs here have been declining since a shift to open-pit mining in the 1970s. Wary of unrest, successive governments have put the state’s shoulder behind creating 15,000 jobs in the phosphate mines and attached environment, forestry and transport enterprises. | |
| While International Monetary Fund economists criticized the efforts for expanding the public sector, the state is still failing to create nearly enough opportunities for the unemployed. Some 30,000 people applied in the last round of job openings at Gafsa for just 2,700 jobs, said Kamel Ben Naceur, minister of industry, energy and mines. | |
| Each round of hiring incites a bout of new unrest from those not selected. “This is a conservative society, and youngsters do not listen to their elders anymore, and they react because they have reached complete despair,” said Najib Mabrouki, 51, a representative of the local labor union. | Each round of hiring incites a bout of new unrest from those not selected. “This is a conservative society, and youngsters do not listen to their elders anymore, and they react because they have reached complete despair,” said Najib Mabrouki, 51, a representative of the local labor union. |
| The same complaints that compelled the revolt against the dictatorship — of poverty and pollution, a lack of basic services like electricity and clean water, and corruption in parceling out coveted jobs — continue to animate the protests against Tunisia’s new technocratic government, which took over in January. | The same complaints that compelled the revolt against the dictatorship — of poverty and pollution, a lack of basic services like electricity and clean water, and corruption in parceling out coveted jobs — continue to animate the protests against Tunisia’s new technocratic government, which took over in January. |
| In Moulares, wagons filled with mounds of gray silt stand abandoned amid weeds on train tracks, and the factory siren blares over an empty washing plant. Workers and their families have forsaken their bonuses to join the protests of the unemployed. | |
| “There is no social justice,” said Mohammad Nasir Saidi, who lives near the blockaded train tracks. He lost his job when the foreign mining company he worked for closed because of the unrest, yet he directs his anger at the government. “They are stealing our natural resources, and they are not helping us. They do not care about the people.” | “There is no social justice,” said Mohammad Nasir Saidi, who lives near the blockaded train tracks. He lost his job when the foreign mining company he worked for closed because of the unrest, yet he directs his anger at the government. “They are stealing our natural resources, and they are not helping us. They do not care about the people.” |
| A small crowd of men in their 20s and 30s gathered around him. All said they were jobless. | A small crowd of men in their 20s and 30s gathered around him. All said they were jobless. |
| “The revolution started here in 2008 in Moulares and Redeyef, and we are still living the revolution, protesting and chanting slogans,” said one of the men, Hatem Behmida. | “The revolution started here in 2008 in Moulares and Redeyef, and we are still living the revolution, protesting and chanting slogans,” said one of the men, Hatem Behmida. |
| Tunisia has already seen firsthand the dangers of such disaffection. During the protest here in 2008, the government under Mr. Ben Ali reacted with harsh repression, detentions and torture: Three people died in the clashes, dozens more were injured, and the protest leaders were given heavy prison sentences. | Tunisia has already seen firsthand the dangers of such disaffection. During the protest here in 2008, the government under Mr. Ben Ali reacted with harsh repression, detentions and torture: Three people died in the clashes, dozens more were injured, and the protest leaders were given heavy prison sentences. |
| Mohamed Néjib Mrabet, a mining engineer, said, “2008 was revelatory as to the social discontent of the whole population.” Mr. Mrabet last year became chairman of the mostly state-owned Gafsa Phosphate Company, which — together with a sister chemical company — directly or indirectly employs about 27,000 people. | Mohamed Néjib Mrabet, a mining engineer, said, “2008 was revelatory as to the social discontent of the whole population.” Mr. Mrabet last year became chairman of the mostly state-owned Gafsa Phosphate Company, which — together with a sister chemical company — directly or indirectly employs about 27,000 people. |
| “It was very violent, the revolution,” he recalled. “They had practically been slaves since the French colonial period. It was revenge for everything.” | “It was very violent, the revolution,” he recalled. “They had practically been slaves since the French colonial period. It was revenge for everything.” |
| Two years later, during the Arab Spring revolt, the people here again took to the streets and chased the police and officials from their towns. But the overthrow of Mr. Ben Ali, they say, has changed little, including the strikes and blockades that threaten to cripple the phosphate mines — and Tunisia’s struggling economy along with it. | Two years later, during the Arab Spring revolt, the people here again took to the streets and chased the police and officials from their towns. But the overthrow of Mr. Ben Ali, they say, has changed little, including the strikes and blockades that threaten to cripple the phosphate mines — and Tunisia’s struggling economy along with it. |
| Once a market leader, Tunisia has seen phosphate production slump to a third of pre-revolution volumes, and business has shifted to regional competitors. The loss of revenue has amounted to three billion Tunisian dinars, or nearly $2 billion, said Mr. Naceur, the mining minister. | Once a market leader, Tunisia has seen phosphate production slump to a third of pre-revolution volumes, and business has shifted to regional competitors. The loss of revenue has amounted to three billion Tunisian dinars, or nearly $2 billion, said Mr. Naceur, the mining minister. |
| Even as the protests undercut the company’s performance, leaders of the revolt complain that the government has been too immersed in politics and has ignored the people’s needs. | Even as the protests undercut the company’s performance, leaders of the revolt complain that the government has been too immersed in politics and has ignored the people’s needs. |
| “The revolution lost its way,” said Tarek Halimi, 49, one of the leaders of the 2008 protest movement in Redeyef. “And it is not yet on the right path because the demands were mainly social and economic.” | “The revolution lost its way,” said Tarek Halimi, 49, one of the leaders of the 2008 protest movement in Redeyef. “And it is not yet on the right path because the demands were mainly social and economic.” |
| He criticized the government job programs as meaningless tinkering in the face of deteriorating health and living standards. “With billions of dollars you get 10 or 20 trees and an amateur soccer team starting? It is not serious,” he said. | He criticized the government job programs as meaningless tinkering in the face of deteriorating health and living standards. “With billions of dollars you get 10 or 20 trees and an amateur soccer team starting? It is not serious,” he said. |
| Families live in homes made of concrete breeze blocks beneath yellow slag heaps. A sulfurous drain from the washing plant overflows down the main street, the liquid pooling in front of the primary school gates. Residents said that they had been complaining about the overflow since 2008, but that nothing had been done about it. | |
| In the fall of 2012, frustrations turned violent, and a mob burned the phosphate company’s administration building in Moulares. | |
| “It is people who spent four years waiting, and all they have is hope,” Hassen Mabrouki, 38, explained as he walked through the gutted building. He won a job in one of the hiring rounds, but joins the peaceful protests in solidarity. “They got promises that have never been fulfilled, and they cannot understand what is happening,” he said. | |
| In a cafe across the road, Anwar Leki, 24, wipes tables with pent-up anger. The son of an invalided miner, he has 12 brothers, some of them graduates, but none of them secured a job in three rounds of hiring. | In a cafe across the road, Anwar Leki, 24, wipes tables with pent-up anger. The son of an invalided miner, he has 12 brothers, some of them graduates, but none of them secured a job in three rounds of hiring. |
| “We have this phosphate powder everywhere. It comes into the house,” he said. “I earn six dinars ($3.75) a day. I finished high school but could not afford to go to university. You see all this and you have pain in your heart and you cannot even express yourself.” |