The small country of Tunisia was the origin of the Arab String, a wave of protests swept across North Africa and the Middle East in 2011. Over the proceeding decade Tunisia was hailed as one of the few that was able to make a peaceful transition. But over the last few years things have taken a turn for the worse, exemplified by an 11% turnout for the latest elections.

According to Organized Crime Index, Tunisia has low levels of criminality but the current political situation has rang alarm bells and according to recent research from the GI-TOC migration from and through Tunisia rose to levels not seen since the months following the 2011 revolution.

In this episode we're talking about Tunisia and human smuggling.

Presenter: Thin Lei Win

Speakers:

Tasnim Abderrahim, Analyst, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime - Link

Matt Herbert, Senior Expert at the North Africa and Sahel Observatory, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime - Link

Additional Links:

OCIndex.net

Tunisia Country Profile

(Paper) Losing hope: Why Tunisians are leading the surge in irregular migration to Europe

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime