Libya is not a “safe” country for the thousands of migrants and refugees who pass through it in an attempt to reach Europe. However, the EU financially supports the Libyan authorities to intercept migrants and keep them on Libyan soil.
When Godwin wanted to reach the Italian coast on a rubber boat, Libya was in the midst of a civil war. “It was in 2019, when I paid 6,000 dinars (regarding $1,100) to get on the boat,” recalls the 34-year-old Nigerian.
The worker, who wore a shirt with paint stains on it, said that at the time he boarded a boat from the coast of Al-Zawiya, near Tripoli. “It was very dark, and I did not know the exact destination.”
Like most immigrants, he clings to a romantic image of the ancient continent. “I just wanted to go to Europe to live a good life.” But the Nigerian was aware of the risks. He says with some resignation, “I told myself that if I survived, it would be praise be to God, and if I died, it would be by His will.”
The perilous journey in the Mediterranean turned into a nightmare: “When I saw a Libyan boat with armed men arriving, I thought I was going to jump into the water. I did not want to go back to Libya.”
ransom
“They brought us back,” recalls Godwin, who wants to try once more. I was imprisoned and my family was asked to pay 3,000 dinars ($550). They paid the ransom and I was released.”
Hussein, for his part, says that he tried “to reach Europe by sea in 2017.”
Agence France-Presse met this Sudanese immigrant while he was waiting under a bridge to get daily work in the construction field for 10 to 20 dollars a day.
The 26-year-old refugee set out on the migration path out of misery, “in the middle of the night,” on a boat that was intercepted by the Libyan Coast Guard shortly following. “I was imprisoned for 28 hours before I was able to escape,” he says.
Like Goodwin and Hussein, tens of thousands of migrants and refugees attempt to reach Europe each year, often falling victim to human traffickers, when they do not die at sea.
712 missing
Since January, some 13,000 people who tried to cross the Mediterranean have been returned to Libya, some of whom have been imprisoned, according to the International Organization for Migration, which also reported 206 dead and 712 missing at sea.
Last year, more than 32,000 migrants were returned to Libya, according to the same organization. Migrants are detained in centers controlled by armed groups. There are also “illegal” and “secret” centers that are subject to those involved in human trafficking.
Migrants are detained in an “arbitrary and systematic” manner, and they are often subjected to “murder, enforced disappearance and torture” or “slavery, sexual violence, rape and other inhumane acts,” according to the United Nations.
But all this does not prevent the European Union from providing financial support to the Libyan Coast Guard with the aim of preventing arrivals from reaching European coasts.
“taxpayers”
On social networks, many migrants stranded in Libya denounced this European aid. The “Refugees in Libya” account on Twitter wrote: “We live in fear, tormented by European taxpayers’ money.”
The criticism is not limited to the financial support provided by the Europeans.
Alarm Phone, a non-governmental organization that runs a hotline for migrants in difficulty, says in a mid-August report that it has “witnessed the policy of not providing assistance countless times, while ignoring boats at risk of capsizing in the Maltese (rescue) region.” Sometimes what happened to her? (AFP)