Solidarity with the FTDES and Tunisia’s civil society!

We stand in solidarity with our friends from the Tunisian Forum for Social and Economic Rights whose activies got temporarily suspended by the Tunisian authorities by the end of October. The FTDES is among several organisations such as the Tunisian Association for Democratic Women (ATFD), M'nemty, Inkyfada, Nawaat, and the Tunis branch of the World Organization against Torture (OMCT) who are all affected by the recent attacks on Tunisia’s civil society. According to Amnesty International, in the past four months alone, at least 14 Tunisian and international NGOs received court orders to suspend their activities for 30 days. The criminalisation does not only attack organisations but also individuals as the case of six NGO workers and human rights defenders working for the Tunisian Council for Refugees shows. They are being criminally prosecuted on charges solely related to their legitimate work supporting refugees and asylum seekers.

The criminalisation comes at a time where the Tunisian authorities are also suppressing the protests of the civil society in Gabès against polution and and enviromental destruction. According to an analyst, the „movement’s sustained momentum and its percolation to the capital owes much to the supportive role of Tunis-based civil society associations, which have mobilized for Gabes and helped amplify news of the protests“.

FTDES has not only published on environment issues, but also migrants and migration control, and maintained the Tunisian Socail Observatory which has regularly reported about social movements, protests, and suicides. In the first quarter of 2025, FTDES registered 1132 protest movements, and 33 suicides, and for the month of April alone, they reported the rising number of 422 protests and 11 suicides. In August, the most important union, UGTT, which was one of the main actors of the 2011 revolution, had a strike over wages and working conditions which disrupted transport services across the country and piled pressure on Saied to deal with a deepening economic crisis.

As to this economic crisis, the Saied regime has broken with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), well in order to protect the poor against economic shocs. However, Saied's economic concept has lead to more debts, inflation, and over-valuation of the dinar. This year, good weather conditions have stabilized the agrarian economy, but any disturbance could lead to even more pressure on the regime. The Gen Z uprisings have not yet reached Tunisia, but the news fron Morocco were heard. The connection between suicides and uprisings is still fresh in all minds, from 2011. In this situation, Saied wants to suppress any reporting and criticism.

Regarding the political situation, in an interview with the German organisation Pro Asyl in October, Romdhane Ben Amor, the spokesperson of the FTDES, describes the current situation in Tunisia:

"We do not consider Tunisia to be a safe country, neither for migrants nor for Tunisians. I have already spoken at length about the persecution of migrants. But the country is not safe for Tunisians either: the rule of law is increasingly being dismantled. We live under an authoritarian regime that has enacted new laws such as Law 54, which is used primarily to suppress opposition figures. By providing financial support to the Tunisian security apparatus, for example within the framework of the EU-Tunisia deal, the EU is further stabilising this authoritarian shift in Tunisia."

He further adds that „anyone who voices criticism of the current government is in danger. Opposition figures, trade unionists, journalists, civil society activists and critics of the regime are under threat, and many are already in prison. Minorities are subject to repression, and associations are harassed or directly dissolved.“

The EU’s is complicit in the human rights violations of Tunisians and migrants in Tunisia and the suppresion of freedom speech, freedom of the media and freedom of assembly as well as against any critical civil society engagement, especially in criticism of the Tunisian president Kais Saied and in solidarity with people on the move. The involvement of the EU and its member states in the control of migratory movements in Tunisia has well been documented. Currently, the EU and its member states are aiming at adding Tunisia on the list of so-called „safe countries“. „That would be another green light for the oppression of Tunisians who are critical of the regime“, as Romdhane Ben Amor explains.

The protest against the Tunisian regime must not only take place in Tunisia, but has to be voiced also from Europe – and most important: it has to be addressed also towards the European institutions and the national institutions of its member states which support authoritarian regime for the sake of migration control measures.

We stand in solidarity with the FTDES and all the other organisations which are targeted by those in power and are in solidarity with those on the move who are criminalised for exercising their right of movement. Freedom of movement for everyone!

We repost the statement of the FTDES here. We further want to shed light on the solidarity protest action by the network afrique-europe interact who calls for sending out letters to the respective Tunisian embassies. Find their call for action here.

The Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights received an official letter on October 27, 2025, informing it of the suspension of its activities for one month, using the same pre-written wording applied to a number of other associations and organizations.

Despite the Forum's adherence, as always, to all legal and administrative procedures, we affirm that what we have been subjected to since April 2025—a continuous series of financial and tax audits—is nothing more than a new episode in the ongoing crackdown on independent civil society and a blatant attempt to silence the free voices that have refused to pledge allegiance and have remained faithful to the values of justice and dignity.

As individuals and as a group, we reaffirm today our unwavering commitment to the principle of resisting injustice and discrimination, and our constant support for all social, civil, and human rights struggles in our country. We will remain, as we have always been, in the front lines with the oppressed, believing that siding with those who are wronged is a continuous duty.

We have accumulated this commitment through our experiences in supporting social struggles before and after the revolution, and this determination has been nourished by the sacrifices of the martyrs, the wounded, the prisoners, and all those who fought for a Tunisia of freedom, dignity, and social justice.

What is happening today and what may happen tomorrow will not intimidate us or weaken our resolve. Wherever we are—within our organization, in the streets, or anywhere else—we will remain loyal to the oppressed, more determined than ever to amplify their voices and more committed to their concerns and aspirations.

Whoever thinks they can break our will does not understand our determination or our positions. We were and remain where we are proud to be, adhering to our principles and our positions in solidarity with those whose rights have been violated. We announce our commitment to the decision to suspend activities for one month starting today, while also challenging it as an arbitrary and unjust decision. We remain committed to the issues of our people at all times.

Freedom for all oppressed women and men.

Dignity for all.