Protests over youth unemployment have spread to several towns and cities in Tunisia, leading to the death of a policeman in clashes on Thursday. Demonstrations began in the northern Kasserine region after a man was electrocuted while protesting at being rejected for a government job.
Unemployment has worsened since the 2011 revolution, when President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was ousted. The revolution was triggered by struggling market stall owner Mohamed Bouazizi killing himself in Sidi Bouzid.
Some of those demonstrating this week said many of the social problems highlighted in 2011 had not been resolved. More than a third of young people are unemployed, with 62% of Tunisian graduates without work according to the OECD.
“We have been waiting for things to get better for five years and nothing has happened,” Yassine Kahlaoui, a 30-year-old jobseeker, told the Associated Press in Kasserine, where police fired tear gas at demonstrators near government buildings. We’re tired of broken promises,” he said.
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