Violence against migrants in Libya is now being carried out in the open – Khalifa Abo Khraisse

On 1 October 2021, on the orders of the Attorney General of Libya, a substantial team of security forces launched a raid in the Gargarish district, in the capital Tripoli. It was not the first attack of its kind, but it was certainly the largest and was aimed at driving migrants and refugees out of the area. According to official data, four thousand migrants ended up in prison, 15 were injured and one was killed while trying to escape. What is the story of the clashes with the authorities in Gargarish? What happened on October 1st, and why is this attack different from the others?

The main street of Gargarish divides the district in two parts, located in the western part of Tripoli, on the coast. On the one hand there is one of the most luxurious and expensive areas of the city: international fashion brands, jewelers and perfume shops, elegant restaurants and cozy bars. Perennial traffic is a way of life for many young people who run around in luxury cars listening to loud music. Now imagine crossing the street and entering any of the side streets on the other side: a few steps from the glittering facade you will find yourself in the undergrowth of one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Tripoli.

The dark part
The atmosphere suddenly changes: dirty and unpaved streets, narrow alleys full of garbage, stray dogs and hostile looks. You will immediately notice the random placement of the buildings. As soon as your eyes get used to the shabby shack-like houses, from time to time an elegant mansion appears in the garbage. The recurring element is the prickly pear, which envelops the streets and makes the whole area look like a labyrinth. Understand now why this plant is considered an invasive species and why the locals call this part of Gargarish alhendy, the Libyan dialect term that indicates the prickly pear.

Here is the most active drug and alcohol market in Tripoli (bear in mind that alcohol is illegal in Libya, you cannot go into a supermarket to buy a bottle of wine or whiskey, you have to call a dealer or do a ride in the slums). Paradoxically, most of the luxury shops, buildings and automobiles seen in the affluent part of Gargarish began appearing in the mid-nineties thanks to the money earned in its dark, dirty and dangerous part.

The neighborhood has been like this since the eighties, hostile and closed to those coming from outside, except for customers. Police patrols also avoid entering it. Sometimes bad things happen even to a person like me, who prides himself on knowing Tripoli like the back of his hand and is comfortable walking everywhere, in good, bad and ugly neighborhoods. In case I forget, I have 22 stitches in my left thigh as a reminder. But that’s another story.

Migrants and refugees have always lived alongside Libyans in this area, which is one of the few places where they can afford to rent houses (if we want to call the buildings they live in homes). The migrant communities living in the neighborhood have grown, they have opened small shops selling food and products from their countries of origin, barbers, small bars and hidden churches have begun to be seen. Since 2011, drug dealers have armed themselves and expanded their networks by recruiting snipers and guards. With the increase in trafficking and smuggling of human beings, some drug dealers have begun to recruit migrants, starting a new economic activity in the connection houses.

The liaison houses are brothels run by human traffickers and facilitators from sub-Saharan Africa with the support of Libyan smugglers and drug dealers. The managers of the connection houses buy the girls who come from the south of the country from the traffickers who brought them to Libya. Some are sent to Sabha. Others go as far as Tripoli and end up in Gargarish. The pimps force the girls into prostitution until they have paid off their debt. Only then can they try to cross the Mediterranean and arrive in Europe where, in most cases, they will have to continue to prostitute themselves to pay off their new debts. The victims are trapped in hell with no way out. They cannot escape, since there are no organizations that can offer them help, nor can they turn to the authorities, who must fear more than the managers of the connection houses themselves.

However, constant forays into the neighborhood have weakened these networks. Despite this, the Libyan authorities and their media continue to define all black migrants as belonging to criminal organizations without making any distinctions. All men are therefore drug dealers, human traffickers or pimps. And women are not victims, they all prostitute themselves of their own free will. This situation has fueled hostility against black migrants and left the Libyan authorities carte blanche to arrest and use all kinds of violence against migrants without any public criticism.

Clean up the neighborhood
Returning to October 1st, it all started around dawn, when the inhabitants of Gargarish were awakened by the din of loud gunfire. All the streets leading to the neighborhood had been closed by armored vehicles and the police were asking people to stay and home. The images show police officers armed to the teeth with the attitude of warriors and certainly not guardians of public order. In one photo in particular you can see a so-called policeman who has a sticker on his vehicle that says “The Punisher”. At one point they began to break into the homes of migrants with weapons and dogs, gathering them on the street.

It was stated from the outset that the campaign’s objective was “the elimination of pockets of prostitution and drug dealing and the demolition of makeshift buildings in the neighborhood”. Yet it is strange that no Libyan was arrested in an operation against drug dealers and that organized gangs did not put up any resistance, unlike what happened in the past, when similar operations resulted in hours of firefights and casualties from both sides, as well as civilians. The long line of buses waiting across the Gargarish bridge, ready to transfer all the migrants gathered by the police, reinforces the idea that, as always, the real reason was to arrest the migrants and refugees directly at home. This time the operation was carried out on a large scale to clean up the neighborhood of foreigners and migrants.

Official statements and newspaper articles loyal to the government justified and praised the excessive use of force, describing the facts as an epic operation. A few hours after the raid, Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dadaiba arrived on the scene welcomed like a hero, surrounded by his entourage and cameras, to talk to people. An elderly man approached him shouting that he was renting houses to migrants for 300 Libyan dinars (about 56 euros), and now they were all gone. Dadaiba consoled him with a pat on the back, telling him not to worry, they would take care of him. The raid was another move to boost Dadaiba’s popularity. Weeks earlier, the premier had granted a contribution of 40 thousand dinars (about 7,500 euros) to each couple who married and is now taking advantage of widespread xenophobia, promising people construction projects and new job opportunities.

Migrants and asylum seekers were largely taken to the Directorate for Combating Irregular Migration, and from there transferred to several detention centers in Tripoli, including Mabani, Shara, Zawya and Abu Salim. According to local sources and witnesses, many of the people arrested had already been registered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and had documents. Others were in possession of a regular residence permit and their passport. In the detention centers, however, the guards asked those who had the documents to pay 1,500 dinars (285 euros) to get them back and be released. For those without documents, the rate was four thousand dinars (760 euros).

The raid, the arrest of migrants, loaded onto buses with their hands tied with plastic straps, and finally the arrival of the bulldozers who began to demolish their homes. All this is reminiscent of the disturbing images of the campaigns conducted by the Brazilian police in the slums of Rio de Janeiro before the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. The Libyan example, however, has been blatantly selective in targeting only migrants and asylum seekers. The violence and systematic humiliations inflicted on migrants have always existed, but they remained in the shadows, so politicians could deny them. The actions of Prime Minister Dadaiba have only made them official and brought to light. Libya is not a safe haven for migrants, nor is it likely for any human being.

(Translation by Giusy Muzzopappa)