World Tour: Turmoil in Tunisia

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: World Tour with our reporter in Africa, Onize Ohikere.

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: Tunisia unrest — We begin today’s roundup in Tunisia.

AUDIO: [Protesters chanting]

Hundreds of people crowded the streets of the capital of Tunis this weekend, chanting and waving flags.

They are decrying the rising cost of food and other goods. Protesters also called for the release of more than 20 prominent opposition figures detained in recent weeks by President Kais Saied’s government.

AUDIO: [Protesters chanting]

Saied has grown increasingly autocratic since he suspended parliament in a 2021 power grab. His anti-migrant rhetoric also fueled the protests.

During a meeting with the National Security Council late in February, Saied called the rise of illegal immigrants from other parts of Africa a criminal arrangement to make the country’s demography more African and less Arab.

Christian Kwongang heads the Association of African Students and Trainees in Tunisia.

AUDIO: [Speaking French]

He says here that sub-Saharan African students are facing attacks on public transport and on the streets and are also getting evicted by their landlords.

Ivory Coast and Guinea are sending planes to evacuate their citizens.

Refugee camp fire — Next, to Bangladesh.

AUDIO: [Fire responders]

A massive fire blazed through the tightly packed refugee camp for Rohingya Muslims on Sunday.

Many of the refugees arrived in the southern Cox’s Bazar district from neighboring Myanmar, also called Burma, since 2017. That’s when the military there launched a brutal crackdown on the ethnic minority group.

Bangladesh’s refugee commissioner said the Sunday blaze left about 12,000 people without shelter.

AUDIO: [Speaking Rohingya dialect]

This resident says she took her mother to the hospital when the fire broke out. They lost all of their belongings.

The fire also destroyed at least 35 mosques and 21 learning centers.

Malaysia floods — We head over to Malaysia.

AUDIO: [Floodwaters]

Residents in the southern region began cleaning up this week after days of heavy flooding inundated communities.

At least five people died. The floodwaters displaced more than 40,000 others.

Malaysia is witnessing its sixth episode of continuous heavy rainfall during the annual monsoon season that started in November. Weather officials warn that waters in 25 rivers nationwide have reached dangerous levels.

France protests — We close today in France.

AUDIO: [Protesters]

Thousands of demonstrators crowded the port of Marseille in southern France on Tuesday.

Similar scenes played out in the northern city of Calais and outside the airport in Paris. The strikes shut down transport and school activities nationwide.

The protests began nearly two months ago to oppose the government’s plans to amend pension laws. The proposed changes would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.

French far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon joined the protests in Marseille.

AUDIO: [Speaking French]

He is urging French President Emmanuel Macron to call for a referendum or dissolve parliament.

The French Senate is debating the bill this week.

That’s it for this week’s World Tour.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Ohikere in Abuja, Nigeria.

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