By Chris Bradley
Thomas Cook has acted swiftly to the growing public unrest in Tunisia and Egypt. The company have announced that they will not be sending any more flights to Tunisia due to the escalation of the violent protests in the country. They have also taken the decision to stop all tours of Cairo due to the civil unrest there as well.
Acting on advice from the British Foreign Office, Thomas Cook will not be sending any more customers to Tunisia until the sixth of February and they will then review the situation nearer the time. The British Foreign Office advised that nobody should travel to the country unless it was absolutely necessary. Although the situation would have appeared to have stabilized in Tunisia over the last few days it is thought that there is still the potential for violence to flare up again.
TUI has also headed the government’s advice and they too have curtailed all departures to Tunisia until the Foreign Office advises them that it is safe to do so again. Trouble flared in Tunisia following an outburst of public anger when it was revealed online the level of corruption inside the country by the president and his family.
Following twenty three years in power, President Ben Ali was forced to flee the country and his dictatorship came to a sudden end. A transitional government is now in operation but things still remain extremely tense as the country waits to hold elections. Curfews are now in place each night in order to try and restore law and order to the country.
It would appear that Egypt is the next country in line to experience civil unrest with mobs of protestors taking to the street. They are complaining about Hosni Mubarak and it would appear that things are escalating into violence and disorder very quickly. The Egyptian police have been heavy hand in their response to the protestors who want to topple the twenty nine year old dictatorship. The worst of the violence has so far been seen in Suez and Cairo.
