Photo: Nicolas Haeringer
On April 01-05, a group of organizations of the WSF International Council visited the cities of Tunis, Kasserine and Sid Bouzid in Tunisia and the Choucha refugee camp in Ras Jédir on the Libyan border in order to express solidarity and support to the transformation process started by the Tunisian people, the fell of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fell, and that was followed by uprisings in Northern Africa, for example, Egypt, where people went to streets and removed dictator Hosni Mubarak from power.
The cities that were visited had an essential role in the uprising, especially with the mobilization of youth struggling for dignity and work and endlessly resisted to the brutal processes of repression that left so many dead and wounded. Those are places that keep putting pressure towards effective changes, for example the families of victims that promised not to rest until justice is given to their “martyrs” – as those killed in the revolution are known – or workers making hunger strikes in public squares to denounce the reality of a country that denies them opportunity to work and make a living. All in Tunisia is about to start again and Tunisians struggle with extreme difficulties to try and accomplish a revolutionary process that results in the building of a country more just, democratic and egalitarian.
The refugee camp is the expression of the dramatic effects of the military confrontations in Libya, that resulted in a massive flight especially of young people and families that originally came from other countries in conflict and that were refugees in Libya. Although they are victims of armed assaults held directly by Europe, they are also rejected by countries like France and Italy and cannot return home. Tunisia hosts them in temporary tents while international solidarity fails to come. Corpses are coming to the shores of Italy and Tunisia or disappear in the ocean, and are the result of illegal immigration attempts in boats that cannot resist storms in the Mediterranean sea and make the xenophobic policies of European Union visible.
The demonstration of solidarity to the Tunisian people was decided in the last meeting of the WSF International Council in Dakar and called by the African Social Forum and the Tunisian Social Forum, with support of UGTT – General Union of Tunisian Workers. Beyond Tunisian organizations, delegates of organizations from Senegal, Ivory Coast, Morocco, France, Greece, Italy, Finland, Great-Britain, Spain, Belgium and Brazil took part.
Those who took part committed themselves to share their travel reports, that will be published on the following:
http://www.blog-a-vifs.org/