The Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed sees dark forces at work in view of the many young Tunisians who are making their way to Europe.

“You give them money to go.

These people are taking advantage of the misery and want the events of 2011 to be repeated, ”Saïed said, referring to the year in which the dictator Ben Ali was overthrown.

However, he did not reveal who exactly he meant by "she".

But for the president it is at least clear that they want to “damage Tunisia's relations with Italy, Europe and other countries”.

Hans-Christian Rößler

Political correspondent for the Iberian Peninsula and the Maghreb, based in Madrid.

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There are increasing signs that the political chaos in the North African country could induce even more Tunisians to make their way to Europe - similar to what happened in the revolutionary year 2011.

The intensity of the waves of migration from Tunisia was always a measure of the political situation after the peaceful revolution ten years ago.

More and more academics

According to press reports, 600 Tunisians landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa within a short period of time last week. This year they made up the second largest group on the Mediterranean route - ahead of the Syrians. Last year, a good 13,000 Tunisians took first place among the arrivals in Italy. More and more academics are among them. According to the government, 500 doctors left the country with just over eleven million inhabitants last year alone.

Since spring 2020, the Covid pandemic has exacerbated the chronic economic crisis in Tunisia and accelerated migration once again. There is no improvement in sight, because a new, devastating corona wave is currently afflicting the country where vaccinations are not making progress. The second summer season is also lost. The tourism industry contributes more than eight percent to economic output and employs more than 400,000 people.

According to official figures, unemployment is 17 percent. However, among young Tunisians - around half are under 30 - it exceeds 50 percent in some areas. Last year, Tunisia's economic output slumped by more than eight percent. The country is threatened with bankruptcy: the national debt has reached a record level of around 84 percent of GDP. Six percent inflation and increased costs for water and electricity have increased the pressure on the population.

The rating agency Fitch fears that the President's latest steps could reduce the willingness of Western partners to continue to support Tunisia. The country could count on generous financial aid because it was the only democracy that emerged from the Arab Spring. But it is not only the rating agency that considers it unlikely that Kaïs Saïed, despite his abundance of power, will bring about unpopular structural reforms - for example in the oversized public service. A new aid program from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been discussed for months without any results. “Nonetheless, European concerns about migration across the Mediterranean will remain a major motivation for outside assistance,” Fitch expects.