A decade after the Arab Spring uprising, a majority in nine Arab states found that inequality in their countries only got worse, the Guardian reported Thursday.
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The UK daily cited a joint poll with YouGov as revealing that a large number of people across the Middle East also felt their living conditions only got worse after the tidal wave of unrest in 2010, and believed their children's prospects only got worse after the protests.
Nonetheless, the survey also found that the majority of people in Sudan, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq and Egypt did not regret the Arab Spring -- while in Syria, Yemen and Libya, all ravaged by wars, the majority did.
On December 17, 2010, a Tunisian street vendor called Mohamed Bouazizi set himself ablaze in protest against abuse from the municipal authorities.
His death is seen as a catalyst for the protest movement in Tunisia and elsewhere across the Middle East, leading to Tunisia's President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali stepping down in January 2011 after 23 years in power.
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Similar protests transpired in other Arab states, only to eventually subside or be subdued ith foreign involvement. In Syria, Lybia and Yemen, the protests resulted in years of bloodshed and violence.
Even Tunisia, the poster child of the Arab Spring, was reported to be the top source of recruits for the Islamic State terrorist group in 2016.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
