Of Alessandra Bocchi

Source: The Lighthouse on the World
Migrations for Libya and from Libya are still a problem and, to pay for it, it is the same local population. “The Libyans want the immigration phenomenon to be stopped”, Jamal Adel tells us, a boy who is part of the Tebu tribe in Kufra in the south-east of the country.
“It would be a great thing if the new interior minister Matteo Salvini could stop the migration problem", another boy who requested anonymity for security reasons and who works for an organization that monitors conflicts in Sebha tells us, a town destroyed by human trafficking.
The boy then adds that “few newspapers are interested in what Libyans think about the migration phenomenon but, actually, we want this phenomenon to stop because it is seriously damaging our country".
Mac K. B. Simpsons, Ghanaian and migration expert who lives in Tripoli, he tells us: “It is important that this trafficking is stopped before the migrants even enter Libya”.
For many Libyans the problem is to be found above all in the NGOs operating in the Mediterranean: “Traffickers rely on NGOs, it has already been proven that they collaborate. They also feed the Libyan and Italian mafias", says Adel.
“Le ong sono un’attrazione per i migranti”, aggiunge il ragazzo di Sebha: “Spesso chi fugge è disposto a rischiare la propria pelle solo perché sa che ci sono le ong nel Mediterraneo. Per quest’ultime, but, si tratta solamente di un business”.
Uno dei timori dei libici è che le Nazioni unite creino altri campi per migranti in Libia, continuando questi ultimi a rimanere nel Paese. “Tante di queste organizzazioni internazionali per i diritti umani, come l’Organizzazione internazionale per le Migrazioni (Iom) e il Centro internazionale per lo sviluppo delle politiche migratorie (Icmpd), entrambe organizzazioni che lavorano con l’Ue, vengono nel nostro Paese per dirci di abrogare ala legge che stabilisce che l’immigrazione venga considerata un reato. They think they can change our laws without our consent.", Sebha's boyfriend explains to us, which continues: “They think they can give us lessons on human rights when they are the ones who cause violations of these rights and foment illegal trafficking of people”.
Post-Gaddafi Libya
Libya, after the fall of Gaddafi, has become a country in the grip of anarchy, under the control of various governments, militias and tribes. After the Second Civil War 2014, the country is officially controlled by two governments: that of national agreement (Gna) in Tripoli and that of the East, under the Libyan National Army (Lna) of General Khalifa Haftar.
The government in Tripoli is controlled by Fayez al-Serraj, came to power thanks to the support of the international community, i.e. the United Nations and the European Union. Italy too, to try to solve the immigration problem, she turned to Serraj, which, however, is unable to forcefully control the territories under its dominion: “Without the financing of Italy and the European Union, the Tripoli government probably wouldn't even exist", Sebha's boyfriend tells us.
Thanks to the money it receives from the Italian government and the EU, the Tripoli government is able to pay some militias in exchange for their loyalty. However, the government does not have a real army and is unable to control the routes of traffickers who are located in the west of the country.
In eastern Libya, Instead, human trafficking is almost non-existent because General Haftar controls the territories in his possession militarily and with an iron fist. “Haftar has already told migrants that they must leave Libya: will use drastic measures to stop human trafficking”, the Ghanaian Simpson tells us.

The Libyan general aims to control more areas in southern Libya, right where the traffic starts. But it is difficult for him to win the loyalty of the tribes who govern the Fezzan area.
“Tribes are loyal only to themselves”, Jamal tells us. Plus, thanks to open borders, Many mercenaries from Chad have entered Libya and are now taking over some tribes, especially in the Tebu one.
The solution, according to several Libyans, would be to collaborate with the Libyan municipalities in the southern Fezzan area so that they have more resources to stop the migratory phenomenon.
The agreement between the Italian government and that of Tripoli last August served to stop migrants by sea, but not those who arrive in Libya. “The agreement between the Tripoli government and the Italian one to stop the landings was made in a truly unprofessional manner – says Adel. The problem lies in border control between Libya and the African countries where migrants enter, don't stop them on the coasts".
The solution therefore lies in controlling the Libyan borders. This is because, once the traffickers enter Libya, where chaos reigns, they have the green light to move around as they please.
The Italian mission in Niger fits into this, now stranded. According to Adel, France opposed the initiative because it wants to maintain territorial control in the country. But not only that. French troops, according to the Libyan boy, they let traffickers operate freely on the border with Libya.
“France is not interested in controlling this migration crisis because it is not the one who will directly pay the consequences, which is why the French military often lets trucks full of migrants pass without checks on the Libyan border". Libya continues to be a transit country for traffickers, and the Libyans themselves now seem to have had enough.