The Economist - USA (2022-01-15)

38 MiddleEast&Africa TheEconomistJanuary15th 2022

The revolutionplunged Libya into a

periodofchaosfromwhichithasyetto

emerge.ThemilitiasthatoverthrewQad­

dafididnotlaydowntheirarms;instead

theyhavefought internecine battlesfor

powerandwealth.In 2019 KhalifaHaftar,

anarmygeneral­turned­warlord,marched

westfromhisbaseinBenghazi,hopingto

overthrowtheun­backedgovernmentin

Tripoli(whichitselfreliedonmilitiasto

survive). Foreign powers, including

France,Russia,TurkeyandtheUnitedArab

Emirates,playedabigroleinthesubse­

quentconflict.

General Haftar’s attempt atconquest

failed,andthecountryremainssplitalong

geographicandtriballines.Apresidential

electionscheduledforDecemberwaspost­

poned,inpartbecauseLibyalacksa consti­

tutionandaproperlegalframeworkfor

voting.Theelectoralcommissionsuggest­

ed rescheduling the ballot for January

24th,butthatlooksaspirational.

WithnogovernmenttocontrolLibya’s

borders, hundreds of thousands ofmi­

grantshavesoughttoreachEuropefrom

thecountry.Astheinfluxpeakedin2016,

more than 162,000 people crossed the

MediterraneanfromLibyatoItaly.Notall

hailedfromAfrica.Sincetheeasternroute

toEuropeislargelyclosed,owingtoa deal

in 2016 betweenTurkeyandtheeu, some

migrantsfromthe MiddleEastnowtry

theirluckthroughLibya.Lastyearthou­

sands of Iranians, Iraqis and Syrians,

amongothers,attemptedthecrossing.

Europeancountrieshavesoughthelp

from the militias that control almost

everything in post­revolutionary Libya.

Thecoastguardisonesuchinstitution:de­

spiteitsofficial­soundingname,it ismade

upoflocalpatrolsrunbyarmedgroups.

UnderItaly’sdirection,theeuhasspent

tensofmillionsofeurostobuildupthe

force,supplyingsixfibreglassboats,doz­

ensoffour­wheel­drivevehicles,andhun­

dreds of uniforms, radios and satellite

phones. The European Commission re­

centlycommittedtobuildinga “newand

improved”commandcentreanddonating

threemoreshipstothecoastguard.

Frontex,theeu’s borderagency,con­

ductsaerialsurveillance.ItalertstheItal­

ian(and,occasionally,Maltese) authori­

ties,whointurntipofftheLibyancoast­

guard. For those migrantsdetained and

broughttoshore,Europeanmoneypaysfor

themattressesonwhichtheysleep,the

soapwithwhichtheybatheandtheambu­

lancesthattakethemtohospital.Ifthey

die,Europepaysforbodybags.

Theyareheldindetentioncentres,also

runbymilitias,wheretheyrepresenta lu­

crativebusiness.Migrantsheldunderthe

pretenceofenforcingimmigrationlaware

forcedtoasktheirfamiliestosendmoney

fortheirrelease(theaveragepaymentis

about$500a person).Someareforcedto

workonconstructionsitesorfarms.Wom­

enareforcedintoprostitution.

Detentioncentresarerifewithabuse.

InJulyAmnestyInternational,a pressure

group,documentedtortureandrapeatAl­

Mabani,a centreinTripoli.Atleasttwofe­

male detainees attempted to kill them­

selves.Lastyearguardsshotandkilledsix

peoplethere.AnEritreanmanburnedto

deathin 2020 ina fireata differentfacility.

Thingsareunlikelytoimprovesoon.In

DecembertheLibyangovernmentnamed

Muhammadal­Khojaasthenewdirector

ofimmigrationenforcement,responsible

foroverseeingLibya'sroughly 15 migrant

detention centres. Mr Khoja previously

controlled a prison for migrants where

abusesandextortionwerereportedlycom­

mon.OnJanuary10ththeauthoritiesviol­

entlyraidedmigrantcampsinTripoli,de­

tainingmorethan 600 people.

European officials do not deny that

conditions aregrim.A leakedeu report

from 2019 acknowledgedthattheblochas

littleabilitytomonitorthecoastguard’sac­

tivities.InOctoberanItalianjudgesen­

tenceda ship’scaptaintoa yearinprison

forreturning 101 strandedmigrantstoLib­

ya.Internationallawrequirestheybede­

positedatthenearestsafeport;thecourt

foundthatLibyadidnotqualify.

Buttheeuhasnonethelesstriedtokeep

aid­workers and other do­gooders away

frommigrants.In 2018 it askedtheInterna­

tionalMaritimeOrganisation,aunagency,

tocreatea “search­and­rescuezone”more

than100kmoffLibya’scoast, givingthe

coastguardjurisdictionwellintointerna­

tionalwaters(seemap).Since 2018 Italian

portshavebeenclosedtoshipsrunbyhu­

manitariangroupssuchasmsf. European

navieshavehaltedtheirownrescueopera­

tionsintheMediterranean.

That means the rescued migrants

aboardshipsliketheGeoBarentscanbe

adriftfor weeks. To passthe timethey

prayed,arm­wrestled,danced—andspoke

of their experiences in Libya,a sort of

groupcatharsis.Onemansawtwofriends

killedinadetentioncentre;their blood

stainedhisclothes.Anotherhadbeenbeat­

enbythecoastguardaftera previousfailed

attemptatcrossingthesea.ABangladeshi

mantoldofhisfathersellingthefamily

farmbackhometopayforhisrelease.

Oncetheboatwasfull,itsailedonfor

days,searchingfora porttotakeitshuman

cargo.“It’snotuptouswhereorwhenyou

cango,”a crewmemberexplainedonthe

loudspeaker,though hedid reassurehis

passengersofonething:“Youcanforget

aboutLibya.”n

LIBYA

TUNISIA

EGYPT

ITALY GREECE

Sicily

Benghazi

Detention

centre

MALTA

Mediterranean Sea

Main migrant

routes

Tripoli Libyan search-and-rescue area

250 km

Areas of control, 2022*

By population density

Source: Risk Intelligence *At Jan 6th

UN-backed government

Libyan National Army (Haftar)

Sea wall

Migrants crossing the Mediterranean, ’000

Source:UNHCR

*Jan1st-Nov3th †LibyanGeneral

AdministrationforCoastalSecurity

150

120

90

60

30

0

2015 21*

2020

ArrivalsinItaly

fromLibya

5 4 3 2 1 0

Jan Oct

Intercepted by the

Libyan coastguard

or the GACS†

2021

CyclingintheArabworld

Make way

T

he dozensof cyclists winding past the

colonial architecture in Tunis, the cap­

ital  of  Tunisia,  are  an  intriguing  sight.

They  ring  their  bells  and  let  out  cheers.

Vélorution  wants  people  to  know  when  it

is on the move—and wants cars to give its

members space. The group, and others like

it,  are  trying  to  carve  fresh  paths  for  cy­

clists through the crowded roadways of the

Middle East and north Africa.

Older  Arabs  often  dismiss  cycling  as  a

form of transport for the poor. Those with

means own cars, which still dominate the

roads. Most others prefer trams and buses.

But  an  increasingly  vocal  cohort  of  youn­

ger  Arabs  tout  the  environmental  and

health benefits of cycling, as well as the po­

tential for easier commutes. From Moroc­

co to Syria they have set up groups that ar­

range  mass  cycle  rides,  offer  free  repairs

and campaign for more room on the road. 

They face plenty of obstacles. The num­

ber  of  cyclists  may  be  increasing  in  the

Arab  world,  but  so  is  the  number  of  cars.

The  development  of  new  infrastructure

TUNIS

Cars still rule the road, but the number

of cyclists is growing