Tunisia: anger rises around Tunis, and Europe can no longer look away

The facts

On Thursday 22 October, Tunisian police used tear gas to disperse protesters in Ettadhamen, a working-class district on the outskirts of Tunis, Reuters reports. Residents blocked roads, burned tyres and threw stones. The anger was sparked by the death of a young man arrested at his home on suspicion of drug trafficking.

Accounts differ. According to the Tunisian website Business News, the man's father says in a video that his son was allegedly beaten by officers during the raid, and announces his intention to pursue those responsible. A security source quoted by Mosaïque FM claims on the contrary that the suspect allegedly swallowed drugs during the operation before his condition deteriorated. An investigation has been opened and, according to Reuters, the Interior Ministry had not commented on Thursday. Nothing makes it possible to decide at this stage.

According to Reuters, clashes also broke out in Jebiniana and Agareb, in the Sfax region, after the death of a man which, according to his relatives, occurred during a police chase. In Sfax, students protested after the death of a fellow student, blaming the ambulance for arriving too late for lack of equipment.

These incidents come in an already tense climate. On Saturday 17 October, several thousand people, more than 3,000 according to AFP as cited by Al Jazeera, marched along Avenue Habib-Bourguiba at the call of the UGTT trade union confederation, alongside opposition parties, to demand the release of detained opponents and the restoration of freedoms. On Wednesday 21 October, the permanent military court of Tunis sentenced Olfa Hamdi, president of the Third Republic party, to four years in prison for plotting against state security and inciting soldiers to disobey, her lawyer told AFP, according to Business News. The charges concerned Facebook posts critical of the authorities.

The positions at stake

Kaïs Saïed, who suspended Parliament in 2021 and then had a Constitution strengthening presidential powers adopted in 2022, emphasises the unity of the State and accountability. His supporters see it as a necessary fight against corruption and against a party system considered powerless after the 2011 revolution.

Opposite him, the UGTT and a long-divided opposition denounce the concentration of power, rising prices, shortages of medicines and cuts to water and electricity, according to Al Jazeera. The union's secretary general, Salah Eddine Salmi, warned that silence would no longer be acceptable.

On the European side, the Union is bound to Tunis by a memorandum of understanding signed on 16 July 2023, presented by the Commission as a strategic and global partnership. Its defenders argue that Tunisian stability and the fall in departures towards Europe justify working with the government in place. Forty-six NGOs, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, argue on the contrary, in a joint statement published in July 2026, that the 105 million euros of the migration component support forces involved in serious abuses. They also dispute the inclusion of Tunisia, in February 2026, on the European list of safe countries of origin.

The analysis

Two mistakes must be avoided. The first would be to see the Ettadhamen clashes as a repeat of 2011: the known facts do not allow it. The second would be to file them away as mere news items. When a suburb flares up after the death of a detained man, when students point to the lack of ambulances and when the country's leading trade union takes to the streets, it is the social promise of the State that is at stake.

The stability argument deserves to be taken seriously. No European government wants a Tunisia in turmoil, and France least of all, given how close the ties between the two shores are. But stability cannot be decreed. It rests on public services that work, on an independent judiciary and on the possibility of criticising those in power without ending up before a military court. A country short of medicines will not keep its young people for long, whatever resources are given to its coastguard.

The French diplomatic tradition, from De Gaulle to Chirac, rests on respect for the sovereignty of States. It has never meant indifference. In November 2025, Kaïs Saïed summoned the European Union ambassador, Giuseppe Perrone, after he met the UGTT leadership, allAfrica reported. Brussels replied that dialogue with civil society was part of a diplomat's normal work. That was the right answer, and it applies to the families who are asking for the truth today.

The flaw in the 2023 agreement lies in its balance: by focusing attention on border control, Europe treats the consequences rather than the causes, namely youth unemployment, rising prices and public services at breaking point.

Conclusion

France could bring a simple proposal to the Council of the Union: maintain the partnership with Tunisia, but redirect part of the funds towards health, water and youth employment, and make the migration component conditional on independent monitoring of respect for human rights, as called for by the 2024 recommendations of the European Ombudsman and the European Court of Auditors recalled by the NGOs. The question remains open: does Europe want a Tunisia that holds back its migrants, or a Tunisia where people want to stay?

Article written with the help of artificial intelligence.