Far away from the capital cities, tales of marginalization, migration, and extremism persist in North Africa’s southern regions. But strong indigenous communities with lasting cultural values offer accounts of perseverance.
The southern province of Tataouine has the highest rate of unemployment in Tunisia. Some 1500 locals began protesting several weeks ago in El-Kamour, 100 miles from Tataouine.
He left a wealthy family in South Sudan to study in Egypt, where he fell in love and started a family. But racism has kept Jema an outsider both in and outside of his home.
The world was shocked when an IOM report spoke of sub-Saharan African women being sold into slavery in southern Libya. Our research confirmed the slave market but not at the scale suggested by the report.
North of the ‘train of death’s’ tracks is a view of the sea and luxury cafes frequented by the rich patrons who live there. South of these tracks, however, drug dealers, violent dogs, poverty and scams linger.
The southern region’s Tuareg and Tubu people regularly married and shared good relations, until the revolution, caused rifts and has led to fewer marriages amongst them.
An interview with sociologist and researcher of women in Upper Egypt, Samwa Anwar, who says that while women from the south are marginalized, they have powers unknown to many.
Residents of Gafsa have been suffering for years, despite the profits from its phosphate reserves. They have protested, only to disrupt production of the very resource they need to survive.
