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Five years on, have things changed in Tunisia?

Tunisia’s economy and working conditions remain gloomy for vendors who sell their goods on the same street where Mohamed Bouazizi lit himself on fire in 2010 to protest the situation.

A handout picture released by the Tunisian Presidency shows Tunisian president Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali (2nd L)  looking at Mohamed Al Bouazzizi (R), during his visit at the hopital  in Ben Arous near Tunis on December 28, 2010.  Mohamed Al Bouazzizi, a 26-year-old university graduate, who was forced to sell fruit and vegetables on the streets, doused himself in petrol and set himself alight on December 17, which left him in a serious condition with severe burns.  Days of rioting in Tunisia by mostly jobless
Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (2nd L) looks at Mohamed Bouazizi (R) at the hospital in Ben Arous near Tunis, Dec. 28, 2010. Bouazizi, who had set himself on fire in a statement of protest, died the next month. — AFP/Tunisia PRESIDENCY

SIDI BOUZID, Tunisia — It’s been five years since Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire outside the municipal building in Sidi Bouzid, a small town in the heart of Tunisia. While his act had profound international repercussions at the time, some residents say little has changed in their town.

Fed up with a lack of economic opportunity and years of harassment by corrupt police, street vendor Bouazizi made a desperate cry for help on Dec. 17, 2010, and died 18 days later in a hospital. His act led to protests that helped oust President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, paving the way for an immediate and fairly peaceful democratic transition. It also helped inspire a whole region to stand up against dictatorships in the Arab Spring.

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