Wherever you are in west-central Tunisia, especially in Kasserine Governorate (218 kilometers southwest of the capital), you come across speeding cars with no license plates. The closer these cars approach, the stronger smell of gasoline becomes.
Wherever you are in west-central Tunisia, especially in Kasserine Governorate (218 kilometers southwest of the capital), you come across speeding cars with no license plates. The closer these cars approach, the stronger smell of gasoline becomes.
On the highway to the Algerian boundary, smugglers transport whatever contraband they can buy (wheels, diesel fuel, iron, grains, etc.) in large quantities from service centers, shops and tents in streets and amid public squares. Such contraband attracts car owners since the price of gasoline offered (US$0.5) is half of the official price.
A forbidden trip
Three hundred eighty kilometers from the Algerian border, and exactly in Skhirat area, Majel Bel Abbès city (Kasserine), lies a stop where smugglers buy goods from Algerian traders in order to transport it all over Tunisia.
Saber parks his car out of sight of custom officials in order to load it with goods from an Algerian car that succeeded in secretly crossing the Tunisian border. “Remove the nets covering the barrels and unload the truck,” Saber orders to the two men accompanying him. “The borders will be closed soon, and we will not be able to pay remaining installments of the car.”
Leaning on his car seat with his face clearly expressing fatigue, Saber held the driving wheel with a gasoline-drenched hand while addressing a customer. Then, he continued shouting: “Customs men are combing the area and requesting a $6 bribe per car!”
“Old habits die hard,” said a smuggler. “Either you pay a bribe for passing, or take the escape road where your car and goods will be confiscated, if you are chased and caught.”
Saber thought for a while then decided to pay the bribe. Accompanied by many smugglers, Saber travelled 400 kilometers to carry his load between Majel Bel Abbès and Zéramdine. About 10 kilometers away from Sidi Bouzid, they were stopped by a security patrol. Everything was fine and customs workers allowed smugglers to continue on their way. “Nothing has changed following the revolution. Bribery is still the smugglers’ resort”, Saber said.
“Earning living is difficult”
“We will not surrender; we either gain victory or die,” said another smuggler, while pointing to a banner written in bold red, draped on the car he rented after the revolution. He insisted on anonymity.
He has chosen to work in smuggling, he says, because he is unemployed even though he is in his thirties and a mathematics major. “Since the state has waived its responsibilities towards employing graduates, we work in smuggling,” he said, explaining that smuggling harms the economy. “The state has unburdened itself from the problem of thousands of unemployed people,” he said.
Another, Muhsen Haji added: “Earning a living is difficult. If it were not for these goods smuggled from Algeria, the people of Kasserine would never survive.”
Fearful narratives and numbers
The quantities of smuggled food, gasoline and iron across the Algerian borders increased last year, with a total value of 62 billion in addition to 126,000 liter of diesel fuel, according to the Tunisian Customs estimates.
Additionally, many trucks smuggle different illegal goods including wine, beer and tobacco into Libyan markets across the Algerian border. Since the outbreak of the Tunisian and Libyan revolutions, trade has grown even more popular, especially in Libya where law bans the sale of alcohol drinks. Smugglers carry huge quantities of excellent alcohol drinks from different areas in Tunisia into Libyan markets which also receive thousands of tons of foods.
Despite the worried calls of experts and people, the smuggling phenomenon continues to increase and its ways become more varied and dangerous, causing the death of three people per month by smugglers’ speeding cars. Cars burnt by gasoline is also a common accident.
Nabil’s 70 year-old father, Nabil, died in a horrible accident while he was smuggling gasoline. Nabil adds that his son, who was of good morals, bought a car in order to improve the hard conditions his family suffered. He had to earn money to pay for the installments on the car.
Nabil’s father stresses that youth are obliged to work in smuggling and undertake such risky trips because no other choice but unemployment is available, what often ends in them being casualties of horrible accidents.
