Young Ramzi (pseudonym) undergoes a daily bitter struggle in the alleys of the Medina of Tunis (an old neighborhood in the capital), while dragging a cart full of clothes to take to his employer, who rents a clothing store in the markets of the old neighborhood.
Ramzi, 16, tells Raseef22, “I dropped out of school early because of family circumstances that made it impossible for me to complete my studies at the age of 14, and from that time, my journey began to find work that offers any kind of pay. The only important thing is that it’d be a job that would allow me to support my family and myself.”
This minor’s situation is not an exceptional one. In Tunisia, the employment of minors is flourishing at a pace that is causing great concern and apprehension among the authorities, who seem unable to curb this phenomenon, despite the laws they ratified in the years following the revolution to put an end to it.