Hundreds of unemployed Tunisians from around the country attempted to march onto parliament on Wednesday to demand a law guaranteeing them jobs.
Unemployed Tunisians seek laws guaranteeing jobs
Skirmishes occurred between the protests and police forces who blocked their path.
Demonstrators gathered at Bardo Square outside parliament and chanted: “Unemployed people, rise up, work is a right guaranteed by the Constitution”.
Tunisia’s prime minister announced on Sunday a freeze in public service hiring, citing the difficult economic situation aggravated by the virus pandemic and lockdowns.
Demonstrators demanded the adoption of a law that would guarantee jobs for anyone with a diploma who has been unemployed for more than 10 years.
Such chronic unemployment is widespread in Tunisia.
A study carried out jointly by the Tunisian government and the U.N. Development Program forecasts the unemployment rate in Tunisia to increase to 21.6% by the end of this year from 15% currently.
Virus confinement measures are worsening joblessness and poverty in Tunisia, where the economy had already been struggling for years.
Unemployment was a key driver of protests that overthrew Tunisia’s autocratic president and unleashed the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011.