It was after witnessing too many deaths that Sheriff Targi *, 21, decided to leave Libya for Europe.
“I saw massacres and massacres due to the conflicts between the Tuareg and the Thebes [ethnic minorities],” he says.
Targi is a Tuareg from the desert city of Ubari in southwestern Libya. Under Muammar Gaddafi, the Tuareg were marginalized; they were not issued government identifications and were restricted from accessing employment and public services. Things did not improve after the dictator was ousted.
In October 2019, Targi left home, traveling more than 1,000 kilometers (1,000 km) to the coastal city of Zuwara. From there, he and about 200 other people, mostly Syrians, Moroccans and Sudanese, gathered aboard an overloaded wooden boat and embarked on a dangerous 18-hour journey.
A decade after the Libyan revolution, a growing number of people make the dangerous journey out of Libya by boat. By the end of December, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) had registered 386 Libyans arriving in Italy by sea in 2020, almost twice as many as in 2019. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees recorded a 52% increase in Libyans arriving in Europe, compared to 2019.
Safa Msehli, a spokeswoman for IOM, says the increase in numbers is significant as it changes Libya’s position in relation to the migration chain. “Libya has always been a transit country for migrants.”
Central with route
A weak economy further paralyzed by the coronavirus pandemic helps fuel the exodus.
“The pandemic has hurt the economy and led to a reduction in oil and gas exports. Libyans are also struggling to collect their pensions and there is a significant increase in unemployment among young people, ”says Vincent Cochetel, the UNHCR’s special envoy to the western and central Mediterranean.
Border closures and limited movements due to Covid-19 blockades have affected people’s ability to win, he says. “They depended on border trade and smuggling things like cigarettes and fuel.”
Cochetel predicts a continued rise in Libyans who will leave the country in 2021, unless the economy improves. “Libyans tend to stay in their country, even as displaced people, or seek help from relatives in Tunisia or Egypt,” he says. “But the socio-economic impact of the recent devaluation of the Libyan dinar must be monitored.”
Corruption and security fears are also becoming driving factors for Libyans.
Mousa Algunaidi, of the Nedaa Organization for Human Rights and Community Development in Misrata, says corruption within the various state apparatuses in Libya -divided between two rival governments based in Tripoli and Benghazi- puts endangering basic services such as electricity supply and has eroded the Libyans’ confidence in the state.
He adds: “There are many security fears for Libyans in cities like Tripoli, Sirt and southern cities like Murzuq. In addition, there is a rapid rise in prices and inflation, with banks and the finance ministry limiting cash withdrawals to between 500 and 1,000 Libyan dinars. [£280–£560]”.
Algunaidi believes there is hope for Libya if all parties adhere to the global peace agreement signed by the two warring governments of the country in October. But Libya’s defense minister has already threatened to withdraw from the deal.
“If there is a political agreement and a full election and the creation of a new constitution, the peace agreement will benefit us. No doubt this would decrease the number of Libyans marching by sea. It could even completely stop the “But if there is a new conflict like the one we saw in 2019, we will see the coasts full of Libyans,” he said.
After hours at sea, an Italian coastguard ship took Targi’s ship and finally arrived in Italy. “There was nothing more difficult than this trip. The ship was old. We were overloaded, at sea for two days. The engine was weak. If the coastguard didn’t find us, we would be dead, ”he says.
After being smuggled into France, Targi took a train to Belgium, where it was stored by truck to the United Kingdom. He came across the Channel and settled in London, where he now studies science at university.
Friends back in Ubari say the city has gone from bad to worse. Targi’s childhood friend Mahmoud Twareg * says it remains a place of stifled opportunity and danger.
“Schools are in poor condition without enough teachers. There are not enough staff and equipment to operate in the hospitals, “says Twareg.” There is a lack of security. There are armed groups and gangs everywhere.
“The peace agreement does not improve things in Ubari. Nothing has changed. The forces of [warlord general Khalifa] Haftar has even returned.
Targi believes that even if the deal is kept elsewhere in Libya and the country puts the war behind it, its life will be kept away from home. “I want to finish my studies. I don’t expect life to improve in Ubari. So I won’t be back any time soon. “
* Names have been changed
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