By using ECSS site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
ECSS - Egyptian Center for Strategic StudiesECSS - Egyptian Center for Strategic Studies
  • Home
  • International Relations
    International Relations
    Show More
    Top News
    German-French Relations: A Tug of War
    January 5, 2023
    The Tigray crisis: The Cost of Instability in Ethiopia
    November 18, 2020
    The ethnic crisis of Qemant: The complex reality of Ethiopia’s Amhara
    July 31, 2021
    Latest News
    Regional Breakthrough: The Geopolitical Implications of the Saudi-Iranian Agreement
    March 29, 2023
    Expanding Financial Inclusion in Egypt with InstaPay
    March 28, 2023
    Heated Competition: Syria’s Phosphate and Russian-Iranian Spheres of Influence
    March 22, 2023
    Structural Causes of Economic Decline in South Africa
    March 18, 2023
  • Defense & Security
    Defense & Security
    Show More
    Top News
    Coping with Challenges:
    ISIS from Operation Kayla Mueller to the Syria Earthquake
    March 4, 2023
    Strategic Shift: Iran’s role in Sanaa between Proxy Management and Direct Involvement
    November 7, 2020
    Political Considerations: The Motives and Implications of Lifting Five Foreign Terrorist Organizations off US Terrorist List
    Political Considerations: The Motives and Implications of Lifting Five Foreign Terrorist Organizations off US Terrorist List
    May 28, 2022
    Latest News
    A Habitual Trend: Terrorist Organizations’ Exploitation of Natural Disasters
    March 25, 2023
    ChatGPT: Promising Applications, Potential Difficulties
    March 6, 2023
    Coping with Challenges:
    ISIS from Operation Kayla Mueller to the Syria Earthquake
    March 4, 2023
    Reasons and Ramifications of Al-Shabaab’s Retreat from its Positions
    January 30, 2023
  • Public Policy
    Public Policy
    Show More
    Top News
    Radical Overhaul: Egypt’s Plan to Upgrade the Railway Network
    August 21, 2021
    Fruitful Efforts: Egypt’s National Agricultural Projects and Achieving Self-Sufficiency
    June 1, 2022
    The Law of General Average: Ever Given Compensation Crisis
    August 19, 2021
    Latest News
    Imminent Challenges: Hunger and Global Food Security Disruption
    March 14, 2023
    How will Forward Exchange Contracts Affect Egypt’s Market Stability?
    January 24, 2023
    Egypt’s Economic Gains from COP27
    December 14, 2022
    Global Crisis: Whither Inflation?
    December 8, 2022
  • Analysis
    • Analysis
    • Analytical article
    • Opinions Articles
  • Activities
    • Conferences
    • ECSS Agenda
    • Panel Discussion
    • Seminar
    • Workshops
  • ECSS Library
    • Books
    • Digital Editions
    • Periodicals
    • Special Editions
  • العربية
  • Advertise
All Rights Reserved to ECSS © 2022,
Reading: Illegal Immigration across African Coasts: Libya as a Model
Share
Notification Show More
Latest News
Regional Breakthrough: The Geopolitical Implications of the Saudi-Iranian Agreement
Arab & Regional Studies
Expanding Financial Inclusion in Egypt with InstaPay
International Relations
Marking the Day Egypt Restored Taba, and the Challenges Ahead
Opinions Articles
A Habitual Trend: Terrorist Organizations’ Exploitation of Natural Disasters
Terrorism & Armed Conflict
The World is Changing
Opinions Articles
Aa
ECSS - Egyptian Center for Strategic StudiesECSS - Egyptian Center for Strategic Studies
Aa
  • اللغة العربية
  • International Relations
  • Defense & Security
  • Special Edition
  • Public Policy
  • Analysis
  • Activities & Events
  • Home
  • اللغة العربية
  • Categories
    • International Relations
    • Defense & Security
    • Public Policy
    • Analysis
    • Special Edition
    • Activities & Events
    • Opinions Articles
  • Bookmarks
Follow US
  • Advertise
All Rights Reserved to ECSS © 2022, Powered by EgyptYo Business Services.
International Relations

Illegal Immigration across African Coasts: Libya as a Model

Hussein Al-Missouri
Last updated: 2020/06/14 at 6:28 PM
Hussein Al-Missouri
Share
9 Min Read
SHARE

Illegal immigration is one of the most complex issues given its multidimensional repercussions on security and the political, economic and social fronts. It is a problem that involves relations between African countries and the relationship between the continent and its European neighbors, since African migrants take one of the longest routes to travel from the depth of African countries to the Mediterranean coast.

Libya is now one of the most important starting points for African migrants to Europe. Libya has suffered years of security deterioration amid sharp political divisions, an armed struggle for power and a war on terrorism. The state has lost its ability to effectively control its borders. The crisis is exacerbated by the country’s big size and long borders of 4,333 km with Tunisia, Algeria, Niger, Chad, Sudan and Egypt. This led to the availability of various paths for African migrants to enter Libyan territory.

Complicated Migrants’ Routes 

Migrants often come from Nigeria, West Africa, Sudan, Ethiopia, Chad and Somalia, crossing the southern Libyan border. There are also Egyptians who come from the eastern border and Tunisians from the west, because of difficulties in crossing to Europe from the coasts of the two countries, according to the International Organization for Migration.

The illegal immigrants who have succeeded in penetrating the southern border of Libya follow one of two main routes. The first is from the east of Kufra, south of Libya, to Ajdabiya on the Mediterranean coast, and the west from Qatroun to Sabha where migrant groups are scattered. Some of them go to Bani Walid and then to Tripoli or to Sabrata and Zuara and then to the sea to Malta or to the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Because local militias control the border areas, especially in the west of the country, cross-interest networks emerge to enhance the chances for migrants to reach the Mediterranean, where local militias play an important role in facilitating the passage of migrants for money.

Migrants captured by Libyan forces holding ID cards are placed in Tripoli and Benghazi detention centers and deported home on direct flights from Libya in cooperation between the Libyan authorities and the International Organization for Migration. Despite the difficulty of the experience, many migrants who have failed to reach the Mediterranean coast give it another try, while quite a few remain in Libya illegally. Despite the deteriorating security, economic and living conditions in Libya, many African migrants prefer to stay there to escape the dire poverty and the worsening living conditions from which they fled in the first place.

Digital Indicators

The illegal immigration of Africans across the Libyan coast is a phenomenon that can be assessed through a group of numerical indicators summarized as follows:

1- Number of immigrants: There are no accurate statistics for migrants from African countries who cross the Libyan territory, especially since the journey of many does not end in reaching the destination they want. Many remain in Libya. Overall, the International Organization for Migration documented more than 432,000 migrants in Libya in five years. Since the beginning of 2018 more than 55,000 migrants escaped by sea, compared to 111,000 people in 2017, and more than 250,000 people in 2016, according to the UN. It is estimated that 100,000 migrants enter Libya annually, and the number of transients from Sudan to Libya is between 10,000 and 12,000 immigrants per month.

2- The destination of illegal immigrants: Italy is the main destination for illegal African migrants from the Libyan coast to Europe. It is estimated that more than 90 per cent of migrants cross Libya to Europe and arrive on the coast of Italy. This made Italy one of the countries most interested in containing the phenomenon of illegal immigration across the Libyan coast, which was reflected first in the change in the Italian voter’s direction to choose a right-wing government aimed at protecting the country from refugee influxes, and secondly in Italy’s deep involvement in playing roles on the ground such as training the Libyan Coast Guard to combat the smuggling of migrants, and monitoring the implementation of the Security Council resolution banning the supply of weapons to Libya.

3- The cost of illegal immigration: The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that smugglers make between $760 million and $1 billion a year. The value of what migrants pay to smuggling gangs varies depending on the country of departure and the transit areas that they will pass by in order to reach their destination. Passengers through Eritrea, Sudan or Ethiopia pay about $4,000, while those wishing to pass through Somalia and Sudan pass through Libya for between $2000 and $3,500. The migrants pay the gangs between $500 and $2,500 from Libyan coasts to Italy.

 4- Victims of illegal immigration: According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 2018 was the deadliest for migrants from the Libyan coast, as 1,500 migrants died while trying to cross the sea into Europe. Although the figures show a significant drop in the number of migrants by sea by 80 per cent, the death rate is rising, with one out of every 17 going to Italy and one out of every 70 going to Spain. This large number of victims of illegal immigration prompted the UN Security Council in June 2018 to impose sanctions on six smugglers who head human trafficking networks in Libya. The sanctions include freezing their funds and imposing a travel ban to all UN member states.

The solution

The crisis can only be tackled by addressing the security and economic problems in African countries exporting migrants. Libya is a transit country and not an exporter of migrants. Even if Libya’s political and security turmoil ends, this will not prevent African migrants from looking for other borders that can be traversed to reach the shores of Europe.

The situation in both the Horn of Africa and the African Sahel is the root cause of the rising waves of migration, with problems such as terrorism and armed conflict, deteriorating environmental conditions and disruption of development. Providing jobs and a decent living is a good starting point to solve the problem.

Libya has suffered since 2011 from the absence of the central government and the loss of control over its borders. The current situation underscores the urgent need to reach a tangible agreement to end the Libyan crisis that ensures the unification of security and political institutions by forming a strong government, dismantling of militias, seizing unlicensed weapons, and the support of the military to control the country’s borders. The success of these efforts depends to a large extent on the seriousness of the international community. 

This article was first published in: Egyptian Center for Strategic Studies, Africa 2019… Equilibrium Severs … Promising Future, Cairo, March 2019. 

Related Posts

Regional Breakthrough: The Geopolitical Implications of the Saudi-Iranian Agreement

Expanding Financial Inclusion in Egypt with InstaPay

Heated Competition: Syria’s Phosphate and Russian-Iranian Spheres of Influence

Structural Causes of Economic Decline in South Africa

TAGGED: Featured
Hussein Al-Missouri June 14, 2020
Share this Article
Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Whatsapp LinkedIn Telegram Email Copy Link Print

Stay Connected

Facebook Like
Twitter Follow
Instagram Follow
Youtube Subscribe

Latest Articles

Did Israel commit war crimes in Gaza?
International Relations May 27, 2021
Why are the Houthis Attacking the UAE?
International Relations February 15, 2022
Investment and Cooperation Agreements between Egypt and Greece
International Relations August 23, 2020
Beyond the Tigray Elections: Ethiopia’s Future
International Relations September 11, 2020

Latest Tweets

International Relations

  • African Studies
  • American Studies
  • Arab & Regional Studies
  • Asian Studies
  • European Studies
  • Palestinian & Israeli Studies

Defence & Security

  • Armament
  • Cyber Security
  • Extremism
  • Terrorism & Armed Conflict

Public Policies

  • Development & Society
  • Economic & Energy Studies
  • Egypt & World Stats
  • Media Studies
  • Public Opinion
  • Women & Family Studies

The Egyptian Center for Strategic Studies is an independent non-profit think tank, providing decisions-makers by Policy alternatives, the center was establised in 2018 and comprises a group of experts and researchers from diffrent generations and scientific desciplines. 

All Rights Reserved to Egyptian Center for Strategic Studies - ECSS © 2022

Removed from reading list

Undo
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?