Al Nassr secures 5-1 victory over Al Ain to edge closer to knockout stage    Saudi Deputy FM meets Lt. Gen. Al-Burhan of Sudan    Al-Khateeb: Saudi Arabia is the largest global investor in tourism sector "Saudi Land" pavilion inaugurated at World Travel Market in London    Saudi Crown Prince, Japanese PM discuss over phone efforts made to achieve peace in the region    Saudi Arabia, in its drive to enrich Arab culture, launches Arab Week at UNESCO in Paris    Neymar exits Al Hilal match with muscle injury, leaving fans disappointed    AlHisn Big Time Studios unveiled to transform film and TV production in Riyadh    Saudi Arabia approves cooperation agreement with US for the use of outer space for peaceful purposes    Quality of Life Program CEO highlights Saudi urban transformations at UN-Habitat conference in Cairo    Almarai wins 'Best Corporate Sukuk' at Asset Triple A Islamic Finance Awards    Top climber falls to death after rare Himalayan feat    US voters flying home in time for election    Drones and snipers on standby to protect Arizona vote-counters    India's Modi condemns violence after Canada temple incident    Elon Musk can keep giving $1m to voters, judge rules    Mitrovic's hat-trick leads Al Hilal to 3-0 victory over Esteghlal    Al Ahli extends perfect start with 5-1 victory over Al Shorta    Quincy Jones, titan of US music, dies aged 91    Hidden sugars in Asia's baby food spark concerns    HONOR unveils pre-order of the stunning HONOR MagicBook Art 14 Featuring an ultra-slim design, HONOR Eye Comfort Display and AI Cross-OS WorkStation    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Muted Eid celebrations for millions of Nigerian Muslims    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Despite Tunisia's vote for change, enduring miseries drive youth exodus
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 17 - 10 - 2019

It only took 10 minutes for Fakher Hmidi to slip out of his house, past the cafes where unemployed men spend their days, and reach the creek through the mud flats where a small boat would ferry him to the migrant ship heading from Tunisia to Italy.
He left late at night, and the first his parents knew of it was the panicked, crying phone call from an Italian mobile number: "The boat is sinking. We're in danger. Ask Mum to forgive me."
Hmidi, 18, was one of several people from his Thina district of the eastern city of Sfax among the dozens still unaccounted for in this month's capsizing off the Italian island of Lampedusa, as ever more Tunisians join the migrant trail to Europe.
His loss, and the continued desire among many young men in Thina to make the same dangerous journey, vividly demonstrate the economic frustration that also drove voters to reject Tunisia's political elite in recent elections.
In a parliamentary vote on Oct. 6, the day before Hmidi's boat sank just short of the Italian coast, no party won even a quarter of seats and many independents were elected instead. On Sunday, the political outsider Kais Saied was elected president.
In the Hmidis' modest home, whose purchase was subsidized by the government and on which the family is struggling to meet the repayment schedule, his parents sit torn with grief.
"Young people here are so frustrated. There are no jobs. They have nothing to do but sit in cafes and drink coffee or buy drugs," said Fakher's father, Mokhtar, 55.
Mokhtar lost his job as a driver two years ago and has not been able to find work since. Fakher's mother, Zakia, sells brik, a fried Tunisian egg snack, to bring in a little extra money. His two elder sisters, Sondes, 29, and Nahed, 24, work in a clothes shop.
Much of the little they had went to Fakher, the family said, because they knew he was tempted by the idea of going to Europe. At night the family would sit on their roof and see the smuggler boats setting off. The seashore was "like a bus station", they said.
At a cafe near the Hmidis' home, a few dozen mostly young men sat at tables, drinking strong coffee and smoking cigarettes.
Mongi Krim, 27, said he would take the next boat to Europe if he could find enough money to pay for the trip even though, he said, he has lost friends at sea.
A survey by the Arab Barometer, a research network, said a third of all Tunisians, and more than half of young people, were considering emigrating, up by 50 percent since the 2011 revolution.
The aid agency Mercy Corps said last year that a new surge of migration from Tunisia began in 2017, a time when the economy was dipping.
Krim is unemployed but occasionally finds a day or week of work as a casual laborer. He points at the pot-holes on the road and says even town infrastructure has declined.
For this and the lack of jobs, he blames the government. He did not vote in either the parliamentary or the presidential election. "Why would I? It is all the same. There is no change," he said.
Unemployment is higher among young people than anyone else in Tunisia. In the first round of the presidential election on Sept. 15, and in the parliamentary election, in which voter turnout was low, they also abstained by the highest margin.
When an apparently anti-establishment candidate, Kais Saied, went through to the second round of the presidential election on Sunday, young people backed him overwhelmingly.
But their support for a candidate touting a clear break from normal post-revolutionary politics only underscored their frustration at the direction Tunisia took under past leaders.
At the table next to Krim, Haddaj Fethi, 32, showed the inky finger that proved he had voted on Sunday. "I cannot imagine a young man who would not have voted for Saied," he said.
On the bare patch of mud by the creek where Fakher Hmidi took the boat, some boys were playing. For them, the migration to Europe is — as it was for Hmidi — a constant background possibility in a country that offers them few other paths.
At the time of Tunisia's 2011 revolution, they had great hope, Mohkhtar Hmidi said. But economically, things got worse. Fakher found little hope in politics, he said.
Despite the apparent surge of young support for Saied as president, he has been careful to make no promises about what Tunisia's future holds, only to pledge his personal probity and insist that he will rigidly uphold the law.
The economy is in any case not the president's responsibility, but that of a government formed by parties in the parliament, whose fractured nature will make coalition building particularly difficult this year.
Any government that does emerge will face the same dilemmas as its predecessors — tackling high unemployment, high inflation, a lower dinar and the competing demands of powerful unions and foreign lenders.
An improvement would come too late for the Hmidi family, still waiting nearly two weeks later for confirmation that their only son has drowned.
"Fakher told me he wanted to go to France. 'This is my dream,' he said to me. 'There is no future here. You can't find a job. How can I?'," Mokhtar said, and his wife started to cry. — Reuters


Clic here to read the story from its source.