Egypt, Tunisia, Thailand... Top 10 destinations for Social Upheaval

A Tide of civil unrest has swept through at least 11 nations in just the past week.  Media focus has been on the successes of the "Jasmine Revolution" and developments in Egypt, which is populous, geopolitically significant, and in total upheaval; but nations far and wide are experiencing mass-protests and anti-government demonstrations. 

Cairo, January 25 2011 by Muhammad*#

The underlying cause connecting all of these movements is the political and economic disenfranchisement of large majorities and groups of people within their nations.  It could be that what now is being witnessed will be seen broadly as a sociological reaction to generally poor ongoing conditions which became exacerbated by ongoing effects of a global economic crisis and major moves in global food and fuel inflation.  This situation has threatened a future of abject poverty and destitution on large populations of working poor, unemployed, pensioners, students, small business operators, professionals; anyone with debts or low incomes.  In these conditions, any political or economic event can become a symbol of repression which people begin to rally against, venting their anger and will to change in street demonstrations and violent confrontation with security forces. 

While the list is dominated by the Middle-East/African-Arab speaking nations of Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Tunisia, Algeria and Lebanon, there is representation from the Sub-Sahara in Cote D'Ivoire and Ghana, as well as Europe and Asia with Albania, Bangladesh and Thailand.  In no particular order:


JORDAN
Last Friday saw thousands of protestors marching in Jordan, and was the 3rd consecutive day-of-prayer protest.  Jordan fits the same profile as the other Arab countries in upheaval: A large population mainly below the age of 30, under the strain of rising prices and unemployment, facing a lifetime of economic deprivation and political disenfranchisement.  Today, February 1, King Abdullah has dismissed his cabinet and prime minister.  His appointment of former general and PM Marouf Bakhit as the new Prime Minister will likely be seen as an empty gesture, as Bakhit is an entrenched member of the political class who was already PM from 2005-2007.


EGYPT
The Egyptian government, led for 30 years by Hosni Mubarak, on January 28 shut down all cell-phone and internet access as it faced popular calls for him and his government to step down during consecutive days of demonstrations.  The entire Presidential cabinet has been purged and restaffed.  Sources put today's crowds at million strong just in Cairo. Transportation has been severly restricted and night-time curfews are in place but ignored.  Protestors have occupied buildings, and the army has refused to use violent coercion against the people whose demands it views as "legitimate."  This represents a major break from President Mubarak, who is himself a former Air Force Commander and Chief of Staff.  Clashes between demonstrators and security forces have cost more than 125 lives.  The protests began in earnest on January 25, a date on which the government annually commemorates the police.  Activists organised for that day a massive apolitical demonstration against police brutality, dubbed the "day of rage."  The protests, unified by the rally-call "Kefaya!" (Enough!) have gathered momentum and are ongoing at the time of publication.


LEBANON
Angry demonstrations hit the streets of Beirut and elsewhere in Lebanon on January 25.  Politics remain as a constant catalyst to demonstrations and unrest in Lebanon, a country which has felt the brunt of 2 wars in the past 3 decades.  Lebanese society faces a lack of housing and vital state infrastructure, unemployment and rising prices, a factionalised society along religious, sectarian and political lines, and the constant threat of renewed war from its southern neighbor Israel. 


YEMEN
Near daily protests since mid January in Yemen and the capital Sanaa have seen calls from tens of thousands for the ouster of 32-year President Ali Abdullah Saleh.  Yemen is an extremely poor nation, located at the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula and across the gulf of Aden from Somalia.  America has called Yemen an Al-Qaeda haven and has been making drone attacks inside the country.  The country has already been coping with open revolt from rebel and separatist movements.  With war, corruption, high unemployment and rising prices plaguing the nation, thousands of people with nothing to lose have turned out to demand rights, justice and new government.  One man, Fouad Sabri, lit-himself on fire in an attempted suicide protest, immitating the act which sparked the Tunisian uprising. 


ALGERIA
Rioting and protests have continued to errupt for over a month as economic turmoil engulfs the country.  Algeria has suffered for a long time with a housing shortage, and the young population is acting out against their impoverished living conditions, rising prices and lack of economic opportunity.  Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the 12-year president, has vowed to quash the unrest; along with employing security forces he has put in place a cooking fuel subsidy and has also ordered major purchases of wheat with the hopes of holding domestic food prices down. 


TUNISIA
A month of protests which saw the ouster of Tunisia's 23-year president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, continue into their 6th week after being dubbed the "Jasmine Revolution."  Sparked by the suicide protest of Mohammed Bouazizi on Dec 17th, general strikes and protests against indignity, police brutality, organised corruption and generally lacking rights and freedoms continue.  Security forces, out of seeming habit or acculturation, continue to use deadly violence against the crowds, who are now specifically calling for the president's former cronies to resign their posts in various state ministries and the interim government. 


BANGLADESH
Bangladesh is experiencing violent demonstrations as its stock market is rapidly collapsing.  Since a previous report about it here at World Headlines Review, more street violence has been seen as markets hit new lows and stability has failed to return.  Trading was again halted on the Dhaka exchange for a third time, on January 20, to stop rapid and massive declines which threatened a total collapse of stock values.  In a seemingly unrelated story, the AFP reports that a police officer was killed and several police and civilians seriously injured in protests which saw 20,000 villagers fighting against the appropriation of their land by the government.  For the masses of Bangladeshis, it seems there is no safe place to put your savings, be it stocks or real-estate. 


ALBANIA
A country of some 3 million people on the Mediteranean coast of Europe, Albania's social unrest has expressed itself slightly differently from other nations.  Factions within the country have fought with each other and the police over political scandals and corruption.  On January 21, 3 civilians were killed when security forces fired on anti-government demonstrators.  At its core, the unrest is the result of the same rising prices, unemployment and rampant corruption that is swelling the ranks of the uprisings in many other nations.  


THAILAND
Anti-government protests by "red-shirts" and "yellow shirts" saw thousands of demonstrators occupying streets and neighborhoods in Bangkok this week.  The Thai government has been beset by protests for years now, from groups who seem to recognise no democratic forum for redress except direct action.  In December 2008 the Bangkok international airport was occupied by protestors, leaving many tourists stranded and creating international headlines.  Since then, protests continue largely in the absence of international attention.


GHANA
Thousands of people demonstrated in the capital of Accra and Kumasi on January 26, calling for government action against poverty and rising food and fuel prices.  The protests were peaceful.


COTE D'IVOIRE
In a poor country facing massive unemployment and inflation, a political crisis has sparked violence along social, political and ethnic lines.  The UN this week reported estimates of 260 deaths in the rapidly evolving situation.  Violence erupted when Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent President, was defeated in a recent election.  Gbagbo has refused the election results and is pitting the ethnic and economic prejudices of his southern support base against the growing anger of the supporters of President-elect Alassane Ouattara. 

Cairo Police Line, January 25 by Muhammad*#

The above list briefly illustrates a number of locales experiencing unrest right now or in the past week.  Haiti and Belarus are two more countries which could be added to the list if the timeframe was widened to the past month.  Both countries have been mired in violent protest against corruption and anti-democratic government.  In all of these countries, where there are little to no rights or freedom to associate, to gather publicly, to speak one's opinion vocally, where there are no democratic venues for ordinary people to make themselves heard and to seek redress, the only option is to defy the law, defy curfews, and face tear-gas, batons and bullets in the streets. 

What seemed to happen first in Tunisia may yet inspire more people to take to the streets, but what is actually happening will continue as long as there is a reason: People facing a bleak future, with little to lose and everything to gain, finding common cause with each other and searching for hope and the power to shape their own destiny

Street-battles in Cairo

Read Sources On:  Egypt  - Lebanon  - Thailand1  - Thailand2  - Cote D'Ivoire1  - Cote DI'voire2  - Ghana1  - Ghana2  -  Albania1  - Albania2  - Bangladesh1  - Bangladesh2  - Yemen1  - Yemen2  - Yemen3  - Algeria  - Jordan 1  - Jordan 2

Basra and Iraq: Oil and Expectations

A strange portrait of the Southern-Iraqi city of Basra is painted in a recent and brief Economist article.  Better than Baghdad struggles to find real evidence of improvement of quality of life or opportunity in Basra, which is Iraq's international oil and shipping hub and home to a large disenfranchised Shia population.

Basrawi Street by 17th Fires Brigade

The Economist compares the situation in Basra of three years ago, "when anti-Western Shia militia controlled the streets," with the "more business friendly" Basra of today.  With the view confined to this time frame, that the city continues to exist at all could be an improvement, given that the city in 2008 was torn apart in the "Battle of Basra" or "Operation Charge of the Knights" which saw a week of coalition airstrikes and street battles before a ceasefire with Muqtada al-Sadr and the Mahdi Army was negociated.  That "terrorist attacks are a monthly rather than daily horror" is also presented as an improvement, though "monthly" seems an exagerated infrequency.

The article describes the area around Basra as a "geological El Dorado," duly noting that the Rumaila and West Qurna oil deposits, when discovered, combined as "the second-biggest oil field in the Middle East."  Such wealth has gone largely untapped as wars and international sanctions prevented Saddam Hussein from bringing the surrounding oil fields into efficient production.  The opportunity that this presents, it would seem to the Economist, is the obvious catalyst to prosperity in Basra, as its first evidence of an "improving" situation is that "BP signed a technical-services contract for Rumaila last year... it's operations, together with its partners from Chinese and Iraqi state-owned oil companies, are gaining momentum." 

The article conveys a number of interesting images: "People eat juicy prawns in restaurants... sometimes sitting out past midnight on the balmy banks of the Shatt al-Arab; it is still unthinkable in Baghdad to relax on the edge of the Tigris... A smart hotel with a conference centre has just opened... Emirates airline is set to begin daily flights next year... sales of flashy cars have been soaring... the price of taxis and meals in good restaurants have been shooting up."  Certainly such scenes are confined to the centre of the city, where there are small enclaves of middle class wealth among a larger 'other-half'.  It describes a recent oil-and-gas conference where managers from Halliburton and a Mercedes-Benz dealer "rubbed shoulders" with average Iraqi businessmen looking for opportunities to provide local logistical support.  It would seem that Operation Iraqi Freedom and the Battle of Basra have indeed secured some type of opportunity for Iraqis; to tap a Reaganomic trickle from foreigners busily appropriating Iraq's natural wealth.

Upon describing such dubious "improvements," The Economist does not fail to admit how bad the overall facts of life in Basra are, seven years after the fall of Saddam Hussein:  "The dusty roads into the city pass miles of slums.  The canal that goes through the centre is stinking and stagnant.  The council was promised a dollar for every barrel of oil produced in the province but the cash has yet to be seen.  Many development projects have stalled... the number of jobs on offer has only slightly increased... Most foreign businessmen from Europe and America still prefer to lodge on a military base several miles outside the city, where they are still occasionally subjected to mortar fire."  The piece concludes with the ignominious statement: "Basrawis are being warned against having unrealistic expectations."  One is left to wonder what type of expectations in such conditions are unrealistic?  Any expectations of average Basrawis are in any case likely tempered by the daily news, such as the recent January 14th escape of twelve Al-Qaeda members who walked out of a fortified Basra jail wearing police uniforms; sprung from captivity by corrupt guards, Al-Qaeda infiltration of local authorities and higher authorities in Baghdad.  The jail's entire staff has been under arrest pending the full investigation.  Such corruption and displays of influence and power by terrorist groups are sure to remind the people of Basra that arrivals by Mercedes-Benz to riverside Shrimp-cocktail parties is not in the offing for all.


Read the Economist article:
http://www.economist.com/node/17633299

Read about the Basra Al-Qaeda jail-break:
http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/middle-east/escaped-iraqi-al-qaeda-prisoners-had-inside-help
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70D47P20110114

Tunisia and Algeria: North African States of Unrest

Reports of civil unrest and suicidal protests in Algeria and Tunisia these past two weeks are highlighting the precarious conditions under which many people across the world live: on the verge of starvation, hopelessly unemployed and frequently homeless.  For decades these two neighboring nations have been considered relatively stable, if authoritarian African countries; with education and other economic indicators of prosperity on the rise.  However, more recently circumstances for Algerians and Tunisians have taken a turn for the worse, and a generation of youth has taken to the streets, demanding the right to opportunity, employment and price stability.

President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali

Perhaps the most shocking story emanating so far from North Africa is the story of a 26-year-old Tunisian graduate student, Mohammed Bouazizi, who died two days ago from his injuries after setting himself on fire on December 17th in an act of suicidal protest.  Bouazizi, unable to find any meaningful work, had taken to selling fruits and vegetables out of a cart to earn money, until police confiscated his cart for lacking a vendor's permit.  His hopeless decision to douse himself in gasoline and light himself on fire has been a call to arms for thousands of disenfranchised Tunisians, especially educated youths, who are facing the same circumstances as Bouazizi, and who are now protesting daily against a government which normally maintains strict social control through violent coercion.  Bouazizi's funeral procession was attended by an estimated 5,000 people.

There has been at least one other suicide-protest, two protesters were shot on Christmas-eve, and thousands of lawyers have gone on strike in solidarity with other lawyers who have been beaten, arrested and tortured by Tunisian police.  Thousands of protesters are in the streets daily across the country.  The Tunisian Federation of Labour Unions has seen their organised protests quashed by violent police.  The Tunisian president Ben Ali, who has been president for 23 years and is usually 're-elected' with a 95%+ majority, has addressed the nation on television, saying protests are unacceptable and are bad for the economy, and that the law will be applied firmly.

The situation in Algeria is roughly the same.  Among the youth, hopes for a stable and prosperous future have fallen to a critical level, with food prices rising 20-30% in the past few days.  Fuel and material prices are also rising sharply.  Many Algerians cannot afford such increases in daily necessities as the cost of housing is so high:  In 2003 an earthquake destroyed roughly one-million apartment units which have yet to be replaced, despite promises by the president and government.  This lack of supply has caused the cost of available housing to rise significantly and has led to homelessness and crowded residences.  According to the IMF, 75% of Algerians are under the age of 30, of whom 20% are unemployed.  Actual unemployment rates are higher, and among the employed, under-employment and low wages are a major problem with so many Algerians competing for jobs.  There has been looting of food outlets and stores closing in shopping districts.

It remains to be seen how authorities will ultimately deal with the growing riots and civil unrest, in both Tunisia and Algeria.  While the government of Tunisia has a large police force, and Algeria a well-armed and experienced anti-terrorism apparatus, neither government has faced such a spontaneous and popular uprising, according to many sources.  Such is the fate of nations who fail to redress social inequality, poverty, and despair amongst their people.


This short video by essiklibon taken from Youtube shows a typical protest in the tight streets of Tunisian cities.

Please read more about the current situation in Algeria and Tunisia here:

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/spotlight/tunisia/2011/01/201114142223827361.html

http://www.france24.com/en/20110106-tunisia-youth-north-africa-algeria-riots-protests-unemployment-food-prices

http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=16982

http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/riots-ensue-as-world-scrambles-to-contain-double-digit-food-inflation-1.335603

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/01/2011166020620356.html