What It’s Like To … Fight for Migrant Rights in Libya

Taking action against these human rights violations has become exceedingly difficult as the authorities target activists for trying to dismantle an intricate system of trafficking that is facilitated by the security forces. In segments edited for length and clarity, Tariq Lamloum, a researcher and Head of the Benghazi Center for Migration and Asylum Studies in Libya, tells OkayAfrica about his activism and work.

Tariq Lamloum: “I studied social work and founded the Belady Association for Human Rights, which helps migrants and displaced persons, in 2012. I gathered several activists working in the humanitarian sector in several Libyan cities. We did well until 2014, when the armed conflicts and political division forced many activists and organizations to change their work map and move to other cities.

One of the most prominent obstacles was the restrictions imposed on human rights organizations and the ban on entering prisons and detention centers. Still, we continued our work in the western and southern regions until 2017, but we have remained in eastern Libya.

In addition to visiting the centers, I was running a radio program in which I talked about the conditions of migrants, their prevention, and restrictions. I also trained university students and those who wanted to learn about human rights issues related to the rights of migrants and Libya’s local and international obligations. While I was prevented from visiting the centers, we could visit the workers’ residences and assist them.

Despite the harassment, arrests, displacement, and defamation campaigns, we established a research center, registered in an EU country, that is concerned with documenting human trafficking cases in Libya and the violations that occur. As for the Belady Association, it is currently working on awareness and training programs and providing psychological and medical assistance to migrants.

I have gotten used to moving from city to city in the past five years. I have changed my work office more than six times, and although I publish my name and identity in the media, I try not to reveal my exact location. This makes it challenging to live a normal life. For ten years, I have been living far from my family. They appreciate the danger of my work, so I meet them occasionally or at distant intervals.

I left my city and learned what it means to be displaced. I also spent a lot of time listening to and living the experiences of vulnerable groups. Thanks to the appeals, my writing and advocacy campaigns with colleagues and activists, I was the reason for the release of hundreds from prisons. We also contributed to helping hundreds leave Libya through evacuation flights. We felt happy when a migrant from a third country contacted us and told us that he had left Libya and reached safety.

Due to the threat of imprisonment and arrest, dozens of other activists have left Libya to live in neighboring countries in Europe. Even providing aid to migrants has become a crime because it is linked to an attempt to settle migrants. Libyan law and local procedures do not even assist the sick; instead, they criminalize the presence of anyone who does not have official procedures, and do not recognize asylum seekers.

To this day, we find it difficult to help women from Sudan and Ethiopia obtain an appointment with an obstetrician. Some women have been refused admission to hospitals in Tripoli because they do not have official papers.

In Libya, those who practice smuggling and human trafficking are governmental parties. More than 20 detention centers are affiliated with the Anti-Immigration Agency, which was established in 2014 and is related to the Ministry of Interior. More than 15 prisons are affiliated with the Ministry of Justice. Not to mention the prisons affiliated with the militias.

The security forces cooperate with smugglers and human traffickers to facilitate their movement and the transfer of detainees from the desert to coastal cities, as well as facilitating their exit by sea to Italy.

Exploitation takes many forms, for example, forcing migrants to build, renovate, and maintain prisons without compensation. Social media, particularly Facebook, is one of the most dangerous tools and is exploited for several purposes, including advertising for human trafficking and migration, the exploitation of girls as domestic workers without any controls or rights, and numerous ‘No to Settlement’ pages spreading hate speech and incitement.

The increase in hate speech has resulted in attacks that have reached the point of murder. This is happening for several reasons, including the political rivalry between the warring parties in Libya. The two governments of eastern and western Libya accuse each other of being the reason for the increasing number of migrants.

Racism in Libya, like the rest of North Africa, is especially against Black people. It used to be more prevalent in villages while Black Libyans were integrated into the cities, despite the existence of a barrier between them and ‘whites’ in matters related to marriage. Racism increased after the recent crises that occurred after the revolution in Libya. Whenever there is a shortage of money and the unemployment rate increases, the finger of blame is pointed at foreigners, especially Africans.

To improve migrants’ safety and security, Libya has to have one government that officially recognizes the existence of the refugee commission and allows it to support asylum seekers. The EU must stop supporting armed groups involved in violations in the first place, as it continues to train the coast guard and soldiers in the immigration apparatus.

What makes me proud of this work is that many of the victims who were prisoners in Libya are now defenders of the rights of migrants in European countries and Canada. They have become a voice for migrants stuck in Libya today. I insist on continuing my path and speaking on their behalf, because two of the women who left Libya and gave birth named their children after me, Tariq. I feel more responsible because of that. I will not stop."