A few weeks after France’s les Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vests) movement took to the streets in November to protest rising fuel costs, the high cost of living and taxes on the middle and lower class, something similar happened in Tunisia. A call for protest went out on Facebook, inspired by the French but with a subtle difference: They called themselves les Gilets Rouges (Red Vests).

Les Gilets Rouges are slowly gaining traction online, amassing several thousand followers since Dec. 9, but the group is still in its infancy. “It’s not yet a movement, and we don’t know really where it’s coming from,” Massaoud Romdhani, head of the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights, told Al-Monitor. 

On Dec. 14, the group held a press conference to address questions and take their place in Tunisia’s social sphere. They laid out 22 socio-economic demands to address problems faced across the country. The group is also in the process of setting up 53 local coordination offices and nine regional ones.

Les Gilets Rouges is intended to represent poor and marginalized Tunisians, according to campaign founder Riyad Jrad. Its economic and social demands include an increase in the country’s minimum wage, urgent reforms in the education, infrastructure, health and transport sectors, improved living standards and more job opportunities.