40,000 more Tunisians since January 2011

Since January 14 last year, the day former Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali left the country ending the revolution, over 40,000 have left the Tunisias coasts and illegally immigrated to Italy, according to data provided by the Tunisian forum of social and economic rights. The Forums President Abderrahmane Hedhili has officially requested a commission to investigate the recent, deadly shipwreck off Lampedusa which has lead to violent protests in Tunisia. The commission should include authorities, civil society activists and family members of the would-be immigrants who died or were reported missing in the shipwreck . Though progress has been made against illegal immigration, Hedhili said many young Tunisians still perceive it as the only way to find a better future.