Tunisia

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger Excerpts

Wednesday 30th November 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

My Lords, I am most grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Suttie, for introducing this debate and I congratulate her on her excellent introductory speech. This debate comes at a pertinent time: as noble Lords have heard, we have both just returned from Tunisia, where we attended the Hammamet conference organised by the British Council. This brought together emerging leaders and opinion-formers from across north Africa to identify and discuss solutions to critical issues. Specifically, we learned about the challenges that Tunisia currently faces.

Since the end of French colonial rule in 1957, Tunisia has had two Presidents: President Bourguiba and his successor, President Ben Ali—both dictators. However, President Bourguiba was in fact very forward looking in his vision of a society based on more secular values and gender equality. He introduced the Code of Personal Status—a series of laws focused on addressing gender equality in a number of areas. This included giving women the right to work and to open bank accounts and establish businesses without needing permission from their husbands. He also encouraged tourism in the 1960s, which greatly helped the economy, as, unlike some of its neighbours, Tunisia is not rich in natural resources. However, in the latter years of the dictatorships there was also severe press censorship and oppressive stifling of political opposition.

In 2011, as we have already heard from the noble Lord, Lord Anderson, Tunisia was the source of the Arab spring, or the “Arab source”, as one Tunisian woman once described it to me—the revolution that has had such profound historic consequences for much of the Middle East and indeed the wider world. Without ignoring the death and injury that occurred during the initial demonstrations, of the countries affected by the Arab spring Tunisia is the sole political success, as my noble friend Lord Patten has already said. It is the only country not to have descended into wider chaos and civil unrest, and to have transitioned to become a functioning democracy.

Two elections have been held since and power has changed hands smoothly. The country has adopted a constitution introducing stronger human rights protections, mandating for fair, multiparty elections and allowing for greater freedom of speech. More recently, Tunisia held its first ever public hearings with the victims and witnesses of humanitarian violations perpetrated by the country’s previous regimes. These testimonies were organised by the state-funded Truth and Dignity Commission and were broadcast live on television and radio for the whole nation to follow. This transitional justice marks an important milestone in a country’s quest for openness, transparency and accountability to its people. It is the first time that such an event has taken place in the Arab world.

However, as we have already heard, Tunisia is not without its challenges. We should recognise that western democracy has taken hundreds of years to develop, so Tunisia cannot expect a seamless transition from dictatorship to democracy without some bumps along the way. The clamp-down on freedom of views under Ben Ali had contributed to some young Tunisians leaving to join the fight against the Russians in Afghanistan. In more recent years, Tunisia has in fact become the world’s largest exporter of ISIL fighters, with estimates of between 4,000 and 6,000 Tunisians having travelled to Iraq and Syria to fight for Daesh.

With the situation in neighbouring Libya continuing to deteriorate, there is now increasing concern relating to the influence of ISIL and its reach into the country. The first major assault by ISIL in Tunisia took place in March this year in the border town of Ben Guerdane, committed by fighters who had arrived home from Libya. The threat has continued to grow ever since. Of course, we all remember when 20 people were killed last year at the Bardo museum in Tunis, and 39 tourists, most of them British, were killed on the beach in Sousse.

This year, Tunisia made the unprecedented move of building a 125-mile long barrier along the border with Libya, consisting of water-filled trenches and sand-banks. However, there is a widespread thought that the barrier’s effectiveness will come down to the capacity of those patrolling it. Prior to the Arab spring, Tunisia enjoyed relative stability, and thus the security forces are unprepared to deal with such major terrorist threats—particularly with the number of jihadists who are now thought to be operating across the border in Libya. That is why it is so important to continue to work with the Tunisians, helping them to enhance security, protect civilians and develop capacity to counter violent extremism.

The economy is, as we have already heard, a particular concern, and economic reform has been slow. Tunisia has struggled to attract investment and unemployment is high. As we have heard, more than 30% of its youth are unemployed—curiously that is higher among graduates—and one-quarter of Tunisian companies say they cannot find people with the required skills. The shootings in Sousse and the ensuing travel warnings have meant that tourism from Europe and the US has almost completely dried up, resulting in many Tunisians having been made redundant. There is also very little private sector activity, as historically the Government employed a huge number of people—an unsustainable model—and cronyism was rife, with big business in the hands of the elite and small business not encouraged.

It is widely acknowledged that poverty is one driver of radicalisation. Therefore, as one considers Tunisia’s relative stability and its close proximity to Libya, is there more that the UK can do to help ensure that the situation does not deteriorate? The announcement yesterday of $8 billion in aid and loans to Tunisia over the next four years is very much to be welcomed, but Tunisia also needs inward investment.

Clearly, the travel ban has been devastating to its tourist industry. While we need to protect our citizens, and the memory of Sousse will take a long time to fade, we could still encourage Tunisia to build up more cultural tourism. Carthage is a UNESCO world heritage site and Tunisia has the most fantastic Roman sites, such as Bulla Regia and the wonderful Thysdrus colosseum, built in the 3rd century at El Djem. The UK must also continue to help Tunisia to reform its financial sector and embrace entrepreneurship and private enterprise. Many of the young Tunisians I met last weekend are enthusiastic about looking at new ways of doing business.

In conclusion, Tunisia is a beacon of hope in a troubled part of the world. It is a model to show that a well-functioning democracy is the right way forward for countries across the MENA region. But Tunisia faces challenges, so now is the time for the UK to get alongside and lend our support to help Tunisia achieve full and lasting stability.