Uprooted, Unprotected: Libya’s Post-Gaddafi Displacement Crisis

Seminar with Professor Megan Bradley, Department of Political Science and Institute for the Study of International Development, McGill University.

Abstract

International attention has been seized by the migration crisis in the Mediterranean, as countless migrants leaving for Europe from the shores of North Africa have met with disaster. Less attention has focused on the displacement crises unfolding within North African states, particularly Libya and Tunisia. Libya’s 2011 revolution was accompanied by unprecedented levels of forced migration: out of a population of 6.2 million, 550,000 were uprooted within the country, while approximately 660,000 Libyans sought shelter in neighboring countries, alongside some 670,000 migrants who had been working in Libya before fleeing the erupting conflict.

Through a combination of timely humanitarian interventions and the ability of displaced Libyans to draw on their own social and financial resources, the lion’s share of the crisis was swiftly resolved with the majority returning to their homes after the fall of the Gaddafi regime. However, several complex displacement situations have persisted within Libya while new internal displacement crises have emerged with the upsurge in violence in the latter half of 2014. Hundreds of thousands of Libyans have joined those who remained in Tunisia. Most live “under the radar” – without formally recognized refugee status, and in increasingly precarious circumstances.

Drawing on the results of interviews conducted in 2013 and 2014 with government officials, diplomats, civil society, UN staff members and displaced persons in Libya and Tunisia, this presentation will explore the dynamics of Libya’s ongoing displacement crisis. Beyond the instability that continues to wrack post-Gaddafi Libya, the presentation will highlight how highly flawed transitional justice processes have become obstacles to the resolution of Libyans’ displacement.

Hosted by the Hans & Tamar Oppenheimer Chair in Public International Law. RSVPs to oppenheimer [at] mcgill [dot] ca (subject: RSVP) are requested, but not required.