Living In Libya

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LIBYA: A BROKEN COUNTRY

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LIVING IN LIBYA The struggle for life in a country that descended in to chaos TEXT BY MARTINE BERG OLSEN

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n Africa’s northernmost coast lies Libya, a vast oil rich expanse of land, encapsulated by Tunisia and Algeria to the West, Niger and Chad to the south and Egypt to the east. The country’s long coast is filled with warm sand, and can appear to be a great holiday destination, but it is not as it seems. The northern coast is 1,770 kilometres with long stretches of warm sand. Instead of becoming a holiday destination for Europeans the beach has become a testament to the broken dreams of thousands of refugees, longing for the very Europe, which lies, safely on the other side of the Mediterranean. The North-African country has become a failed state, with six million people fearing for their lives every day.

In February 2011, the men of Benghazi, inspired by events in Tunisia and Egypt, rose against the dictator Muammar Gaddafi and entered the Arab Spring. A Security Council resolution followed by NATO intervention and six months later the country was declared free after 42 years under Gaddafi’s rule. The West was applauding what they called a successful

intervention. After Gaddafi’s demise in October 2011, the Libyans were hoping for a brighter future for their resource rich country. But the optimism was to be short lived. It soon became evident that the western powers lacked a plan for Libya after Gaddafi’s fall, and Libya soon descended into chaos.

It is easy to forget about people who live in the country, behind the headlines about dead refugees and NATO’s discussions about a new intervention. Abdul Nasef who fought with the rebels, tries to live a normal life, but finds it hard as he calls Libya unsafe.

“It is getting worse every day,” Abdul Nasef says: “We used to have one enemy, now there are ten enemies and everyone is fighting everyone. You can die at any minute.”

Abdul, 28, joined the rebels in February 2011, together with the men in his family because he wanted freedom, and “basic human rights”. “Fundamental things for Muslims were illegal, no organisations, groups or meetings. We were not allowed to pray. That was what Gaddafi was afraid

of, people meeting up, discussing issues in the country. He was afraid that people would form groups and plan something against him.”

Abdul fought in fifteen different cities before reaching Tripoli in August, just in time for the declaration.

“We used to have one enemy. Now, there are ten enemies and everyone is fighting everyone. You could die at any minute” Born in Tripoli, Abdul left for Europe with his family in 1998, after his father had become a figure of interest to the regime for his political activism. He describes Libya today as a miserable country where people’s income is sporadic. He talks about an everyday where he is facing threats about getting kidnapped or being

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1/2 The street art blog features grafitti from all over Libya, showing a new creative side they never saw before the revolution killed: “If they see a man that has money they will kidnap his kids or wife, and tell him that if he wants to see them again he has to pay something like £200,000.”

Kidnapping is not the only problem, he also says it is impossible to have nice things in the country: “If you have a nice car you would get stopped in the street, they would not even think about it, they will tell you to get out and sell it so they can live.” He describes them as ordinary Libyans who fought for their freedom from Gaddafi but never gave up their guns: “They are normal people, with power and weapons but they do not have money, so they kidnap, they hijack cars, it is the only way they can make money to live,” he says.

Even though he was fighting side by side with these people he does not call them true rebels: “The others were real rebels, like me. We left everything on the same day that Gaddafi died. We put our guns down, on the same spot on that day in October. We had one goal and that was to finish the Gaddafi regime, we just wanted to live our lives after that. But some

people stayed on the wrong track and they are still at war.”

The lack of security also means it is easy to bring things into the country. Abdul describes Libya as “drug filled”: “People just want to get high or drunk and forget about life. People bring pills, hash and marijuana into the country, there is no one who stops them, there is no law.”

Abdul says the lack of laws and rules impacts the Libyans living standards: “Our quality of life is only getting worse, the food is more expensive and the exchange rate is more than double, it is very hard.

It is not a country anymore, it is a jungle now.”

There are millions who would never dream about leaving their country, but how can you keep living in a country that has ceased to be a country? Therese Martin, 47, is among those who needed a break. Therese is originally from the US but has been living in Tripoli with her husband and six children for 26 years.

She left the country with three of her children in September to take care of her sick mother in Florida, leaving her hus-

band, three children and two ginger cats in Tripoli: “We would all leave if it was possible to safely move our assets out of the country. Libya is getting so bad and the risk of getting kidnapped has increased to a point where I thought it was better to stay away until things improved.”

Therese met her husband, a Libyan National, in Chicago in 1980. She converted to Islam and married him two years later before they moved to Tripoli in 1989.

She says she truly enjoyed the city before things got so chaotic. She used to work as an English teacher, which is a great passion of her, but after the country’s conflicts escalated she kept a low profile: “Since the revolution I have avoided being out after dark. I avoided going places where I was not known and I rarely spoke, either in English or Arabic whilst in public as to avoid drawing attention to myself.

“The centre where I worked increased the amount of security cameras and I was escorted to my car when I left the building,” she says.

Therese is the author of several blogs for students learning English as well as

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1/2 Therese Martin has several blogs combining being a teacher with her passion for photography and sharing her thoughts her personal blog Khadija Teri, where she wrote about everyday life while she still lived in Libya: “I am unable to post freely on my blog, both before the revolution and now. You never know who may take offence and what they might do.”

She also started the blog Libyan Street Art, a post revolution blog to document the graffiti and street art inspired by the Libyans who was finally free to express themselves. The blog features stencils and murals from all over Libya and has become significant as a platform for graffiti artist to feature their work: “I am really proud of that blog. I started collecting and taking pictures of the graffiti as soon as Tripoli was liberated. I wanted to document this part of the revolution and I am really glad I did because most of the graffiti has been painted over now.”

Even though she is pleased that Libya is free from Gaddafi, she felt the country was developing in the right direction before the revolution: “The situation in Libya had been improving before the revolution. On the surface there were more goods and services available, business was booming.

There were still incredible difficulties due to poor infrastructure and the situation was tenuous at best. Libya lacked stability, corruption was rife”.

Therese is unsure if she will return to live in Libya anytime soon, but hopes for

a brighter future for what she calls her home. “I would love to move back to Libya but at this time my mother needs me in America. There is no one to take care of her here and I do not want to put her in assisted living,” she says. “There are many problems in Libya and there is not much work at the moment. I do not want to be stuck sitting in the house doing nothing while my mother is in Florida alone.”

She says she would have brought her

“The centre where I worked increased the amount of security cameras and I was escorted to my car when I left the building” mother to Libya, but that it would be impossible because of the weak health system. “Availability of medicine is still an on-going problem. Since before the revolution there has been a lack of a steady supply of insulin or other drugs used to treat chronic illnesses. The situation is worse now, but it has always been a problem”

As disagreement over ruling continued, the conflict escalated in July 2014, leaving nearly 2 million out of the population of 6,3 million in need of health care. The World Health Organization (WHO) requires US$ 50 million in 2016 to “meet the urgent life-saving need.” WHO representative for Libya express that they cannot wait for a political solution: “This is not about politics, it is about health needs,” Dr Sayed Jaffar Hussain says, highlighting the needs of children, mothers and elderly people.

Lack of jobs and inflation added to that, ensures that the country’s population is struggling financially and most people cannot afford health care. Abdul Nasef agrees with Therese. He has been unemployed since the revolution and explains that those who work are not guaranteed to get paid: “If you work for a Libyan company you will get your salary three, four months later. So everyone is working for free and they are waiting for that day they can go to the bank and get their salary from four months ago,” Abdul says.

After finishing his degree in Accounting and Management at Middlesex University in London he returned to Libya in 2009 to live and work in Tripoli. Abdul had a good job with high salary before the revolution. He had benefits that he can only dream about today, but he calls himself the exception. He worked for an interna-

tional company and believes his British degree and command of English were the reasons. His uncle graduated nine years before the revolution in Tripoli and still does not have a job.

“Maybe I had a good life before, but it was not a good life for my cousin, uncle or my neighbour in Libya,” he says. “A lot of people lost their jobs after the revolution and people started thinking that they wish they never fought during the revolution.

They just want to live, and be secure.”

No matter how unpredictable the country is, he does not regret fighting the regime in 2011:“It was about the principle of changing the lives of Libyans. We did not think about dying. We were only thinking about the future of Libya, and what was going to happen after that. Everyone was hoping for a new and different life. It was a strict regime under Gaddafi.”

But he understands that some Libyans think life was better before the revolution, because of their basic needs are now not being met: “No one should think that they wish back to times under Gaddafi, but people are scared. They just want to live a secure life. There are no proper police, no secret agents no one who secures the roads or anything. People just want security.”

Abdul is like Therese was, careful about staying out late and says the latest he would recommend anyone to stay outside their homes is midnight: “Universities, schools and shops are open, but it is not safe. 12am is the maximum we can stay out, after that it is dangerous. It is a 99.9 per cent probability that you will get stopped and killed for no reason. In the daytime, it is only dangerous if you have nice things or come from a rich family.”

While some people chose to move away from Libya there are others who are trying to make the best of it. And then there are those who choose to move to Libya to take advantage of the gaps in the market, such as the Libyan photographer and lifestyle blogger Amira Izruna. Amira,24, is a British Libyan. She was born and raised in England, but decided to move to Tripoli with her husband in 2013.

“My husband and I decided we might have more opportunities in Libya as there are so many gaps in the market. After almost a year of settling into life here I decided to start offering event photography,” she says.

Amira appears much more relaxed about life in Tripoli than Abdul and The-

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1/2 Amira’s lifestyle blog features everything from her everyday life to tips on how to ’look good without make-up and how her family celebrates the holiday Eid

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1/2 Leptis Magna is located in Khoms in Libya, East of Tripoli, it is the most unspoiled roman ruins in the Mediterranean rese: “Life here is hardly smooth running, but I’ve become accustomed to the inconveniences. I’m genuinely more fearful of the fireworks used weekly than being kidnapped. The fireworks are for professional use but easily accessed by young men. If I didn’t know any better I’d think they were bombs.”

She does not see kidnapping as much of a threat like Therese and Abdul does: “Lawlessness is a scary concept, and if this were any other country I would probably fear for my life. Surprisingly I have a lot of faith in the average Libyan. Accidents are my main concern.”

Amira portrays a different side of Tripoli on her blog. She sometimes includes recommendations about her favourite restaurants and pictures showing what

she called a “hidden treasure” when she visited the ancient Roman ruins of Leptis Magna, in 2014. The spectacular ruins made the top of the list of UNESCO’s most dangerous World Heritage Sites, in the world to visit. “I would love for my family abroad to have the chance to visit all the tourist attractions, and ultimately the rest of the world to see what we have taken for granted all these years. Libya has so much to offer, it just needs structure and law in place,” she says.

Libya is known to have trouble with its electricity. It can turn off the country in seconds, and take a long before it returns. Leaving the residents to struggle in the heated climate, but Amira avoids the problem: “Planning for the day is tricky as Libya is unpredictable, and traffic is an

on-going nightmare. If we get power cuts we generally run errands and have a meal out.”

Even though the lawless country is filled with horror stories, Amira stays positive, and wishes people would see the good things in Libya, and not only the conflict and grief. “The best thing about living in Libya is the amount of potential we see.

Everything from the weather, Mediterranean Sea, roman ruins, oil, friendly people, food, and the overall beauty Libya has to offer.”

Her blog promotes her photography business, but she also shares her healthy lifestyle through tips and recipes, and the occasional eyebrow talk. She explains that her blog is only a positive addition to her everyday life: “I personally see no thre-

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1 Libyan men celebrating their freedom after 42 years under Gaddafi’s dictatorship after his death in 20 October 2011

1 Daes/ISIS marching in Libya 2 The refugee crisis has become a synonym for Libya 3 Tripoli airport was almist destroyed during the 2014 civil war

at or harm from having a lifestyle blog.

It’s not political or controversial.” She explains that social media is a big part of society in Libya, like the rest of the world.

“You will always see Libyans using Facebook, Snapchat and every other app as you would anywhere else.”

Amira wants to improve her country and has started the campaign ‘Zero Waste Libya’: “Libyans are incredibly hygiene conscious. Cleaning their homes with buckets of water everyday. It’s quite ironic as our streets are full of waste. Our bins can sometimes stay uncollected for weeks, which means some resort to burning them.” As Amira appreciates a healthy lifestyle and wanted to introduce a zero waste lifestyle: “I’ve gathered like-minded people willing to start a zero waste community, and share these principles of reusing. The best thing about this project is making everyday people accountable instead of waiting for the government to enforce laws to tackle this global issue,” she says.

With lack of basic human necessities such as medicine, bin collections, affordable food, road control, salaries and electricity the Libyan’s are paying for the country’s instability. NATO is at the moment discussing a new intervention to save the country from its chaos, Abdul Nasef does not think that the West can save the chaotic country and says that the only way for Libya to function again is for Libyans to talk: “Libya is a big country, so it is obviously going to take time, now that we have

started over; we are only five years old.

Revolution means new security, new police, new military and a new everything.

We have to start from the beginning. So obviously it is going to take a lot of time.

We just need time,” Abdul says.

“I think the best thing would be if Libyans all sit together, around the same table and come up with a conclusion that is good for everyone. Libyans will know what is good and bad for Libya. Everyone has lost their country, so they need to do their own thing without any help from the outside.” But Abdul does not think that will work anytime soon: “It is not possible, because the different groups are living in different worlds, but maybe one day.”

While the Western leaders have on-going discussions about a new intervention, while yet another government is placed to collect the country, while people are scared to get killed if they go outside after midnight, Therese’s husband and children are waiting for her return. While a car bomb goes of in Misrata, while people are in need of medicine and while ISIS is infecting Sirte, Amira and Abdul are living their everyday lives without any plans of fleeing Libya, why?

“It is one of the best countries in the world, even better than Dubai, seriously.

We have oil, gas and gold. Libya has the longest coast and it is the best connection between Europe and Africa. Plus we have the perfect weather.” Abdul says.

“I stay because I love my country.”