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FRENCH ACRONYME FOR : TUNISIAN FORUM FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RIGHTS REPORT 20 MARCH 21 1138 collective protests 10 cases of suicide and attempted suicide 338 Migrants 02, France Avenue, "Ibn Khaldoon" Building (Ex National), 2nd floor, Apt 325 - Tunis Bab Bhar 1000 Phone : ( +216) 71 325 129 FAX : ( +216) 71 325 128 [email protected] www.ftdes.net Introduction Introduction The relative calm that prevailed in the streets, squares, public spaces and roads during the month of March compared to the previous two months of the year, was not mirrored in the volume of protest movements nor in the level of claims and protests recorded by the team of the Tunisian Social Observatory of the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights. In terms of figures, we can say that the level of protests remained about the same since the month of March 2021 recorded 1138 protest movements compared to 1235 demonstrations during the month of February of the same year. During this month of March 2021, the claims for the right to work, the rights of workers, the right to development, infrastruc- ture problems (transport and roads), without forgetting those of the regularization of precarious professional situations, have, once again, occupied the forefront of the protest movements observed. Throughout the month of March, farmers have continued to demonstrate in order to claim the materials of fodder and seeds, stressing the need to find new solutions and new visions for the promotion of their products during peak production. A significant number of movements took place in the northwestern and central governorates, as well as in a number of coastal Tunisian cities, calling on regional authorities and the government to meet the farmers' demands. During the month of March, protests by unemployed doctoral students and unemployed higher degree holders were also renewed and met with police violence as forces sought to disperse them through the use of force and tear gas canisters. The month of March has also witnessed a series of environmental protests mainly related to anarchic dumps, and also those seen in the governorate of Gabes over a period of more than a week in relation to the incident of a factory explosion in the industrial zone and its harmful consequences on the inhabitants of the governorate. This wave of protests has brought to the forefront their past claims of dismantling the units of the Tunisian Chemical Group and launching the project of environmental- ly friendly industrial zone that the government promised them since 2017. Substitute teachers working under the Ministry of Education demonstrated in various governorates of the Republic, deman- ding their payment rights delayed by more than 7 months as their contracts provided for a periodic and monthly payment. These teachers demanded that the recruitment decisions of the Ministry of Education involve them. The end of the month also marked a return of the movement in the governorate of Tataouine and a resumption of the protest of the youth of El Camour 2. This time, the movements have witnessed clashes between social actors and security forces with use of violence targeting the headquarters of the governorate and the headquarters of Radio Tataouine. The March 2021 Report 1 The March Protests The March Protests In general, the month of March 2021 has maintained the same distribution of social protest as the previous month. The South Western region has again experienced the largest number of protests and according to figures from the Tunisian Social Observatory, 390 protest movements were recorded, which represents about a quarter of the total number of movements that the month has known. The North-Eastern region recorded 209 protest movements, the Central-Western region experienced 188 protests, the Central-Eastern region was the scene of 168 protests, the South-Eastern region counted 157 protests and the North-Western region 26 protests. MARCH 2020 223 MARCH 2021 1138 North-East 209 26 North-West Center-East 168 188 Center-West South-East 157 390 South-West 1138 The governorate of Gafsa is again at the top of the order of protest actions, it has Ariana 3 8 Ben Arous experienced alone 284 protests, which represents about 25% of the total volume Bizerte 5 132 Tunis recorded during the month of March 2021. The governorate of Tunis was second Zaghouan 21 3 Manouba with 132 protest movements, then came the governorate of Kasserine with 123 Nabeul 37 15 Beja protests, the governorate of Tataouine, which has experienced a return of EL Jendouba 6 2 Siliana Camour with 75 protest movements, the governorate of Tozeur with 68 demonstra- tions, and the governorate of Sousse with 67 protests... Kef 3 67 Sousse Sfax 41 5 Monastir This month of March 2021 has practically the same mapping of protests as the Mahdia 55 24 Sidi Bouzid previous months, preserving the "usual" areas of protest, which are each of the Kasserine 123 41 Kairouan governorates of Gafsa, Kasserine, Sidi Bouzid and Tunis (considered the center of Tataouine 75 39 Gabès authority and the site of most of the headquarters of ministries, establishments and 43 68 official institutions.) Medenine Tozeur Kebili 38 284 Gafsa 2 The March 2021 Report The March Protests 81,4% 1138 18,6% Instantaneous Planned 926 212 3 8 0 0 5 89 0 43 21 2 0 1 13 15 24 0 6 2 0 0 2 65 1 2 10 5 31 0 19 23 36 1 123 40 0 1 43 39 Gabes 32 0 Gabes 36 68 7 0 36 253 2 31 The demonstrations of March 2021 were, overall, instantaneous and spontaneous and either in reaction to the failure to implement an agreement or the failure to fulfill the government's promises, or in response to interruptions in the supply of drinking water, or to demand employment or the regularization of professional situations. And these movements were within the limits of 926 protest movements compared to 212 organized actions related to movements of urban construction workers, contract or substitute teachers. 78,9% 1138 21,1% Arachic Non Arachic 898 240 Ariana 2 7 Ben Arous Ariana 1 1 Ben Arous Bizerte 1 97 Tunis Bizerte 4 35 Tunis Zaghouan 18 0 Manouba Zaghouan 3 3 Manouba Nabeul 28 2 Beja Nabeul 9 13 Beja Jendouba 1 0 Siliana Jendouba 5 2 Siliana Kef 0 58 Sousse Kef 3 9 Sousse Sfax 36 0 Monastir Sfax 5 5 Monastir Mahdia 43 6 Sidi Bouzid Mahdia 12 18 Sidi Bouzid Kasserine 99 15 Kairouan Kasserine 24 26 Kairouan Tataouine 66 31 Gabes Tataouine 9 8 Gabes Medenine 39 62 Tozeur Medenine 4 6 Tozeur Kebili 33 254 Gafsa Kebili 5 30 Gafsa The March 2021 Report 3 The March Protests For the third consecutive month, the "sit-in" as a form of protest remained one of the most prominent options adopted by social actors in their movements, since this month of March recorded 749 days of sit-in, which represents 65.8 % of the total forms of protest known during the month. 6% 65,8% Closing working places Sit-In 749 Modes of action Days of Sit-In 17,5% 10,7% Other Protest rally The claims of protesters during the month of March 2021 were mainly related to the socio-economic, (in total, 76% of movements recorded: 42% social and 34% economic), followed by movements related to the infrastructure of roads, isolation of regions, transport and connection to a water and electricity network ... In addition, 4% of the protests during the month of March were of a political nature. Typology Percentage Social 42 % Social Economic Economic 34 % Infrastructural 15 % Infrastructural Administrative 6 % Administrative Politics Politics 4 % Sector Percentage Educative 4 % Educative Environmental 8 % Environmental Of Health 4 % Security 5 % Of Health Legal 8 % Security Access to water 11% Legal Agricultural 9 % Transport 5 % Transport Private Sector 16 % Private Sector 36 % Public Sector Public Sector 4 The March 2021 Report The March Protests As in previous months, most of the claims were targeted at the government or central authority in more than 75% of social claims, followed by that of the regional community by 15%, followed by the employer by 7%, private institutions accounted for 8% and 3% of the claims are addressed to the Company Phosphate Gafsa as well as the governors, the judiciary and the National Company of Exploitation and Distribution of Water. The initiating social actors Protest spaces movements Employees 14 % Roads 25 % Citizens 14 % Medias 18% workers 13% Governorate headquarters 14% Unemployed 13% Social Media 13 % Youth 12 % Production headq 12 % inhabitants 10 % Headquarters of Delegations 9 % teachers 7 % Work spaces 8 % farmers 7 % Ministry headquarters 7 % Educational institutions Unemployed graduated people 7 % 7 % Drivers 6 % CPG 6 % The March 2021 Report 5 Irregular migration Comparative data during the same period 2018-2019-2020-2021 February 2018 March February 2019 March February 2020 March February 2021 March Arrivals on the Arrivals on the Arrivals on the Arrivals on the 1060 21 Italian coasts 130 Italian coasts 85 26 Italian coasts 60 660 Italian coasts 338 47 Interception 36 4 Interception 20 Interception Interception operations operations 25 operations 4 77 operations 72 Arrivals on the Arrivals on the Arrivals on the Arrivals on the 1273 537 Italian coasts 489 46 Italian coasts 323 571 Italian coasts 137 Italian coasts 882 338 irregular Tunisian migrants reached the Italian coast during the month of March 2021 compared to 60 during the same month in 2020 and 85 during March 2019. These statistics imply the increase of number of arrivals during the first semester of the year 2021 to 1082. The total number of migrants arrived to the Italian coasts on only 13 days of the month due to the weather conditions.

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