NPR

Tunisia's Youth Still Struggle A Decade After The Uprising

The Arab Spring uprising led to a transition to democracy in Tunisia, but young people decry widespread corruption and a lack of job opportunities. It's led to protests, including self-immolation.
Jilani Hablani holds a portrait of his son, Abdelwaheb Hablani, at his home in Jelma, Tunisia. In December 2019, Abdelwaheb Hablani, 25, self-immolated and died. He was working as a day laborer but had not been paid in nearly two years.

Note: This piece contains a disturbing description of self-immolation.

In the middle of Jelma, a town of roughly 6,000 in Tunisia's interior, a light wind picks up dust on a colonial-era built railroad that's no longer in use. Several people walk over the worn tracks going about their business in a place that largely feels abandoned by the government.

Only about 21 miles away is

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