Protests Erupt in Tunisia Demanding Activation of Law 38

Protests in Tunis (AFP)
Protests in Tunis (AFP)
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Protests Erupt in Tunisia Demanding Activation of Law 38

Protests in Tunis (AFP)
Protests in Tunis (AFP)

Hundreds of Tunisian university graduates and unemployed youth marched in protests all over the country rejecting the decision of President Kais Saied to revoke Law 38, related to exceptional provisions for assignment in the government sector.

Angry protesters chanted against the President's decision, stressing that his rejection of the law, which Saied himself approved and ordered its publication in the official gazette, “is killing our dreams.”

Law 38, issued on 13 August 2020, is related to exceptional provisions for assignment in the government sector for those whose unemployment exceeds ten years.

However, the President proposed a different employment method, through private companies, because the state is no longer able to employ public servants.

Activist Ashwaq al-Ajlani said that Law 38 is a "red line" because it affects marginalized graduates, whose hopes, dreams, and lives have been lost.

They are demanding their right to be assigned to public office, Ajlani noted, adding that some university graduates have been unemployed for over ten years.

She asserted that the protests would continue until they attain their demands, calling on the President to reverse his decision.

In the same context, Hana Bouras said that her meeting with the President came after months of suffering and sit-ins, especially in the Kasbah and near the Carthage Palace.

Saied met with a group of unemployed youth who have been left without a job for over ten years.

Bouras said that they asked the President to “gradually” implement the law in the public service, taking into account the capabilities of the state. But the President said “forget about the public service.”

President Saied had considered that Law 38 was set up as a tool for governance and to contain the public's anger, noting that it was not applicable.



Israeli Strikes on Gaza Kill 15 People, Mostly Women and Children

Palestinians carry the bodies of those who were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike, during their funeral in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians carry the bodies of those who were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike, during their funeral in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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Israeli Strikes on Gaza Kill 15 People, Mostly Women and Children

Palestinians carry the bodies of those who were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike, during their funeral in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians carry the bodies of those who were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike, during their funeral in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli strikes overnight and into Sunday killed 15 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children, according to local health officials.
Two of the strikes hit tents in the southern city of Khan Younis, each killing two children and their parents, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. Another seven people were killed in strikes elsewhere, including a man and his child in a Gaza City neighborhood, according to hospitals and Gaza's Health Ministry.
Israel has sealed Gaza off from all imports, including food, medicine and emergency shelter, for over 10 weeks in what it says is a pressure tactic aimed at forcing Hamas to release hostages. Israel resumed its offensive in March, shattering a ceasefire that had facilitated the release of more than 30 hostages.
The UN and aid groups say food and other supplies are running low and hunger is widespread.
Children carrying empty bottles raced after a water tanker in a devastated area of northern Gaza on Sunday. Residents of the built-up Shati refugee camp said the water was brought by a charity from elsewhere in Gaza, The Associated Press reported. Without it, they rely on wells that are salty and often polluted.
“I am forced to drink salty water, I have no choice,” said Mahmoud Radwan. “This causes intestinal disease, and there's no medicine to treat it.”
COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of Palestinian civilian affairs, says enough aid entered during a two-month ceasefire this year and that two of the three main water lines from Israel are still functioning. Aid groups say the humanitarian crisis is worse than at any time in the 19-month war.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 52,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants or civilians. The offensive has destroyed vast areas of the territory and displaced some 90% of its population of around 2 million.