Following the 2011 revolution, Tunisia became a democracy. Despite their varying intervening distances to their country of origin, members of the Tunisian diaspora play an important role in Tunisia’s democratic process.
“We are all participants in the creation of the future of Tunisia,” Henda said. Despite residing in Canada, Tunisian-born Henda maintains a strong relationship with her previous home country. Henda’s case is not unusual: about 12 % of the Tunisian population currently live abroad. In 2011, protests in Tunisia ignited the Arab Spring. Through this revolution, Tunisians opted for a democratic system to enable citizens to participate in political decision-making. As a result, Tunisians living both in Tunisia and abroad are allowed to vote at national elections and to contribute to politics in one way or another. However, does the Tunisian democracy really function efficiently despite long-lasting passport controls, unnerving intercontinental flights and unstable internet connections?
Suffrage for Tunisians living abroad
At first glance, offering suffrage for Tunisians living abroad (tunsien*nes à l’étranger) seems promising for a cosmopolitan model of democracy. Nevertheless, this is not the case, as is evident from the low Tunisian diaspora voter turnout (23,5%) for the 2019 presidential elections. One reason behind low turnout is the diaspora’s high degree of mistrust against a political system suspected of corruption and clientelism.
Other reasons include logistical problems. Elections abroad take place solely at Tunisian embassies and consulates. This means that for all Tunisians residing Germany, they can only vote in Munich, Bonn, Hamburg or Berlin. For Tunisians residing in other cities, traveling to the polling station might incur high travel expenses and involve missing work. To this end, postal voting and electronic election mechanisms are a topic of interest for the Tunisian diaspora.
However, is suffrage for the Tunisian diaspora still a good idea? On this point, Tunisians are divided. Some think that suffrage is an important gesture towards the tunisien*nes à l’étranger. Others, like Yassin, who studies in Munich, are more sceptical, “Are [Tunisians abroad] bound to laws in Tunisia or where they currently live? Do they pay taxes in Tunisia or where they currently live? Does it make sense that they have to right to vote even though they return home only once a year?” Moreover, the secular faction of the Tunisian society tends to be afraid that the Tunisian emigrants mainly cast the ballot for the religious and traditional party, Ennahda, which is the strongest party in this election period and traditionally profits from votes from the constituencies abroad. Maryam, a student from Sfax asks angrily: “What are you doing? You live abroad, you are supposedly way more open-minded. I don't know, it was a weird outcome and for me, I was like, I wished that they didn't have the right to vote to be honest.”
Cross border civil society commitment
On the one hand, everyone seems to agree that the Tunisians living abroad should also integrate into their host community and thus assume their rights and duties there. Dual citizenship does not raise issues among the Tunisian society. Even though the elections may be a controversially discussed topic, the fact that Tunisian emigrants are still part of the Tunisian nation and society is not contested. The diaspora supports this point by engaging intensively in the Tunisian civil society.
In speaking about civil society with Tunisians, one can feel that Tunisians count on civil society to monitor the supposedly corrupt political elite and manage political reforms which the legislative does not keep track of. For Tunisians, civil society means force du people in the sense that the seemingly impossible can become reality, such as the end of Ben Ali’s authoritarian regime. Also, the community abroad contributed to this incredible success for instance by demonstrating in front of the Tunisian consulates and embassies. Numerous emigrants returned to Tunisia after the revolution to contribute to the shaping of the new-born democracy. This is the case for Mahdi, who went to France after having been a political detainee of the Ben Ali regime. There, he continued his political activism in the area of migration, anti-discrimination and human rights. In 2011, he returned to Tunisia and keeps reminding the political elite of its duties towards migrants in Tunisia and the tunisien*nes à l’étranger. The far-reaching political rights for the diaspora as well as the instauration of a council for migration which advices the parliament, are political achievements which would not have been possible without Mahdi and his organisation, Organisation de la Citoyenneté, Développement, Cultures et Migration des deux Rives.
Material support from abroad
In addition to the political mission of the Tunisian civil society abroad, it also supplies Tunisia with material help. For instance, France-based Tunisians have built local structures to send money as well as second hand clothes, books or luxury products to Tunisia. Furthermore, the Association des Tunisiens des Amériques is working on a new project whose goal is to create sustainable fair trade structures. How? The association plans to found a company to brand Tunisian olive oil and to assure fair prices for farmers. It also plans to make the latter independent from big olive oil companies who like to sell Tunisian olive oil as Italian and thus profit from the low wages in Tunisia.
Intervening into the discussions from abroad
The community abroad closely observes the Tunisian discourse and participates in Facebook discussions. “Tunisian emigrants’ biggest problem is that they have always dreamt of emigrating, but they never succeed in emotionally distancing themselves from their home country. We consciously consume Tunisian news on social media. When I was in Germany myself, I was always looking for a link with my country,” explains Yassin when speaking of his studies in Munich.
Facebook is an important news channel in Tunisia. It is a trusted source of information and the civil society-led countermodel to traditional media, which is still accused of their former collaboration with the Ben Ali regime. Social media is also considered to strengthen the power of civil society. Raouf, though already 50 years old, is still up to date when it comes to Facebook. He founded the project journalisme citoyen which aims to enable people to use their social media critically and for their political interests. This concept is implemented through workshops and conferences and Facebook groups. The latter enabled Raouf to learn about Big Olive Oil’s business plan and he became the bridge between the farmers in Tunisia and the Canada-based investors.
In the end, it’s not suffrage which makes the tunisien*nes à l’étranger an indispensable part of Tunisian democracy but rather their intense civil society engagement. This shows a way to integrate migration into the concept of democracy. Yassin, who returned to live in Tunisia after some years in Munich, develops the idea further: “At last, we could all be world citizens.” Who knows.
