Algeria and Egypt rank among the shortlist of the countries in the world where workers are prevented from exercising their rights while some leaders of various unions are persecuted, the International Trade Union Confederation has said in its rights in the world index 2020. Both countries feature in Category 5 of the index, which is the worst with regard to lack of the rule of law. “Most independent trade unions in Algeria and Egypt remained unable to operate because authorities continued to refuse to recognize them, while the governments persecuted some prominent union leaders,” the confederation said. “At least 27 independent trade unions in Egypt were still seeking to register following their arbitrary dissolution in March 2018,” the report says about Egypt. The Category 5+ list of worst countries for workers’ rights includes besides Algeria and Egypt scores of other countries including Burundi, Libya, Palestine, Somalia, South Sudan, Central African Republic (CAR), Syria, Sudan, Yemen as well as Turkey, Brazil, China, Colombia, India and Iran.
