Press Release

How Long Will the Tunisian State Continue Its Negligence and Allow These Death Trucks to Claim the Lives of Female Farm Workers?

(Translated)

Outrage and anger escalated in Tunisia last week following another tragic accident, this time in the Mazouna district of Sidi Bouzid governorate. The accident left several female farm workers injured and two dead at the scene. Tunisia witnesses a recurrence of such incidents due to the state's failure to put an end to unregulated transportation and improve the dire conditions of female farm workers! The state, of course, refrains from providing accurate figures and statistics that reflect the scale of the disaster!

The Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights announced in October 2025 that 91 accidents resulting from the unregulated transport of female farm workers had been recorded since 2015, leading to 68 deaths and 1029 injuries! It also noted that 60% of all accidents occurred after 2019, following the enactment of a law regulating the transport of female and male farm workers, and that 50% of these accidents were recorded in the governorates of Kairouan and Sidi Bouzid!

According to specialists and experts in the field, the 2019 law concerning the transportation of female farmers has not been implemented, even after the government decree was issued. This is because it included difficult procedures and because the state left the transportation problem to private entities to address! This tragedy further confirms the failure of legislation and the state's inaction in protecting marginalized female farm workers, who continue to work in precarious and harsh conditions and are forced daily to travel in unsafe and unregulated means of transport!

Following the 2019 law, Decree No. 4 of 2024, concerning the social protection system for female farm workers, that was also issued, it too has remained merely a formality on paper and has failed to alleviate their suffering in the slightest.

The recurrence of these tragic incidents over the past years can no longer be considered mere accidents. They are, in fact, the inevitable result of state negligence and a lack of genuine will to address the problems of transportation, employment, and social protection in these affected areas!

Despite the outcry following each accident, official promises and measures remain inadequate to address the scale of the tragedies. The lack of effective observers of unregulated transportation continues to this day, as does the failure to provide alternative transportation options. Furthermore, the exploitation of working women in rural areas and the denial of their rights persist!

May Allah (swt) have mercy on Umar ibn al-Khattab (ra), who said, "If a mule were to stumble in Iraq, Allah (swt) would ask me about it: 'Why did you not pave the road for it, Umar?'" So, what about the human lives that are lost every so often, right under the eyes and ears of the rulers in Tunisia, without them fearing Allah (swt) or fulfilling their responsibilities towards these women!

O rulers of Tunisia: The lives of these female farm workers are not mere numbers added to the accident log; they are souls that will hold you accountable on the Day of Judgment, complaining to Allah (swt) of your negligence, your failure, and your betrayals! If you truly feared Allah (swt), you would have done what was required and put an end to these tragedies. You would have striven to save rural women from poverty, exploitation, marginalization, and the desperate struggle for a meager living, often stained with blood! So, fear Allah (swt) in what He (swt) has entrusted to your care! The Messenger of Allah (saw) said:

«مَا مِنْ عَبْدٍ يَسْتَرْعِيهِ اللَّهُ رَعِيَّةً، يَمُوتُ يَوْمَ يَمُوتُ وَهُوَ غَاشٌّ لِرَعِيَّته إِلَّا حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ الْجَنَّةَ» “No servant whom Allah appoints as a ruler over a group of people dies while he is deceiving his subjects, except that Allah makes Paradise forbidden for him” (Agreed upon).

Women’s Section

in The Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir