Tunisia: the autocrat without authority

Esummer 2022. When the plane lands in Tunisia, the passengers applaud, barely getting up from the stopped A321. The crews accustomed to this destination have long since given up on enforcing the safety rules. We uncap the upper chests, everyone takes their backpacks, comforters, cabin suitcases, stands still in the hallway. Ninety percent of the passengers belong to the diaspora, a few couples or families of tourists make up the rest. They disembark from a cuckoo boat chartered by Tunisair, half of whose fleet has been grounded for lack of spare parts. At 11:30 p.m., a supposedly calm time, hundreds of travelers wait without air conditioning or water for a customs stamp on their passports.

Two and a few hours later, the travelers formed…