University students protesting in Sfax for better housing and health care
Student protests in Sfax demanding nursing and ambulance insurance in dormitories after a student's death, and the administration puts her records at the discretion of the court.
Universities and dormitories in Sfax witnessed protests called for by the General Union of Tunisian Students and the Tunisian General Union of Students, to demand improved healthcare, living and pension conditions at university institutions. The moves included a general strike and marches involving graduate students, after medical emergencies were recorded inside the dormitories.
Student mobility representatives held the Department of University Services and Civil Protection responsible for the reduction after ambulance arrival was delayed by more than an hour and a half after notification, warning of the deterioration of the service system amid a lack of accommodations to equipped nursing units and continuous overnight stay.
The University Services Council of the South has announced the handover to judicial investigators of full surveillance camera and telephone recordings with medical interests, to prove the exact timing of the request for help and handling the emergency. These moves come against the backdrop of student Rahima Al-Dzeri's death on Wednesday night, 21 October 2026, after an emergency headache within the university campus of Sidi Mansoor, which has about 1,200 students, where the public prosecutor's office opened a judicial investigation to determine the circumstances of death and the speed of medical response according to the Journal of Criminal Procedure.
A negotiation session between student representatives and the administration of the University Services Council resulted in an agreement to lift the ceasefire and start provision of a temporary evening health alert in coordination with the Red Crescent, for QAR space to be ready for nursing in the second week of December 2026 with a permanent nurse provided before the end of the same month.