Libya Trip Report December 14 18, 2009

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1 Counter-Trafficking Office Via Zanardelli, Rome - Italia Tel. (+39) Cell. (+39) tratta@usminazionale.it / ebonettimc@pcn.net Libya Trip Report December 14 18, 2009 Before the end of the year, a member of the Gruppo Abele of Turin and I were invited to Libya with the aim of understanding the situation of so many African migrants; in particular, women who reach Libya after having crossed the Sahara in the expectation of reaching Italy/Europe - for many, the Promised land.. This visit was made possible thanks to the interest of an officer of the Italian Consulate in Tripoli who kindly facilitated the entrance visa and received us as guests in her home. In order not to forget anything about this truly unique and important experience in our service in the area of immigration including protecting African women and children in transit in Libya on their way to Italy I want to share this brief report to capture some essential notes of our special mission. As religious women who have spent years counteracting the traffic of women and children - particularly regarding sexual exploitation - conscious of our presence in every country in the world, we have tried in every way to create a human network, building channels and bridges of communication among countries of origin, transit and destination. We have partially reached our objective in the countries of origin and destination; however, managing the situation in countries of transit like Libya - crossed by thousands of women and children in recent years - has proved more difficult. 1

2 The visit to Libya was therefore an excellent opportunity to gain awareness, and it allowed us to develop direct contacts with international organisations and especially with religious women who operate in collaboration with Caritas and the diocese of Tripoli. We were first faced with the cultural reality that is quite different from ours, both at the airport and then on the flight. Except for us and one other woman, the passengers of Libyan Airlines were all men. Upon reaching our destination, after long lines of passport control and great confusion at baggage collection, where we each had to retrieve our bags from an unorganised pile, we exited the airport and found the Consulate officer and Sr. Sherly of the Franciscan Missionary of Mary waiting for us. Sr. Sherly, a vivacious, young, intelligent Indian Sister with a good knowledge of the Arabic language and culture, has worked for some years at Caritas Tripoli, assisting many immigrants who turn to the Caritas Centre every day for various necessities. She is a point of reference - especially for migrant women - in the only Catholic parish in Tripoli. From the airport, we proceeded by car towards the city and quickly noticed a hot, sandy wind - the Ghibli. Above all, we noticed many grey buildings extending for kilometres under construction. It was only later that we found out that the labourers working on this great extension of construction site were thousands of immigrants recruited daily by the caporals and paid 10 dinar - equivalent to 5 euros a day. This explains why in the morning you can see hundreds of young African men with their tools along the streets patiently waiting for someone to recruit them for the day. This is also a way of exploiting illegal immigration, similar to the situation in the southern Italian countryside with the irregular/illegal employment of seasonal workers. Continuing our journey towards the city of Tripoli, we saw many over-sized paintings of revolutionary leader Muammar Gheddafi on the façade of buildings, prepared for the 40 th anniversary of his government. The beautiful vegetation, white beaches, blue sea and the numerous mosques built in various dimensions and within close proximity also attracted our attention. During the four days of our stay, we had the possibility to meet the Franciscan Bishop of Tripoli, Mons. Martinelli, who together with some fellow priests and few religious communities of nuns runs his diocese which is as vast as Libya itself. The faithful of this church are exclusively immigrants, originating from many African nations including: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ghana, Mali, Chad, the Congo and Benin Republic. They gather together in the only Catholic Church, particularly on their non-working day, Friday, to celebrate the Eucharist. The female religious communities work mainly in children s shelters and in centres for the physically or mentally disabled. Among these are the Sisters of Mother Teresa who we visited and admired for their precious service of love and dedication. The 2

3 disabled people they assist are mostly the fruit of marriages between blood relatives, a practice still widespread in Libya. Other religious women, such as the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary and the sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, work at Caritas drop in Centre in Tripoli. Among their many activities, they pay weekly visits to prisons or detention centres where tens of thousands of illegal immigrants live and suffer. Many of them are accused of crimes such as prostitution and drug trafficking for which they are locked away for several years without the possibility of attaining legal assistance to protect their dignity and human rights. Together with the sisters that work at the Caritas Centre of Tripoli, we visited a wing of one of the maximum security prisons that houses 2,000 migrant inmates. We shared a moment of prayer in preparation for Christmas with a group of 60 young Africans, who prayed and sang with great faith and enthusiasm in complete harmony with their African traditions. The moment they understood that we were from Italy, they let out a cry of joy - for them the name represents dreams and hope for a different future. When the time came to leave them, while saying goodbye to us with warmth and gratitude, they asked us to send their regards to the Pope and tell him that they love him. All of this gave rise to a great emotion, brought about in witnessing a mixture of so much simplicity with so much suffering. During our stay in Tripoli, we visited some humanitarian organisations that work in the territory to support immigrants. They include: IOM (International Organisation for Migration), UNHCR (The United Nations High Commission for Refugees), and the CIR (Italian Council for Refugees). They explained to us what happens to immigrants before they leave for Italy, or after they have been refused entry into Italy. The situation described to us is somewhat complex, given that there is sufficient tolerance on the part of law enforcement agencies yet there is also a certain degree of rigidity in taking migrants back to the borders, particularly those of neighbouring countries, while organising special flights to distant countries. Those immigrants who manage to elude these checks continue to live underground and make second and third attempts at crossing the sea in order to reach the Italian coast. Many are the stories we have either gathered or heard directly from those who have lived the risk and terror of crossing the sea in a rubber dinghy in order to reach Italy, or who have been denied entry into Libya. From their stories we have become aware of the great number of bodies that have been swallowed by both the sea and the desert! May God forgive our indifference and our silence in the wake of such crimes. I would like to conclude with a brief description of the Libyan and migrant women. The presence of women in Libyan society is intriguing - at certain times of the day very few women can be seen, while their numbers increase towards the evening, in large clothing stores where they tend to acquire very scanty and elegant European- 3

4 style clothes. They wear such clothes under the abbay - a long, black outfit with a hood that covers western-style clothes and make-up - while they make their way to sumptuous, traditional evening parties, including numerous weddings and parties to celebrate the birth of a child. Naturally in such places, men and women are separated. The burqa on the other hand is worn during the day and only came into use about two or three years ago. The women who currently wear it are increasing and it is seen particularly in common neighbourhoods. This is an indication of a strong, radical observance of the Islamic faith. In relation to marriages, it is important to highlight the fact that they are still arranged by families. During official parties, it is the mother of the prospective groom, who after having observed the girls dancing and making some manner of contact with them, selects the most suitable girls to propose to her son. It often happens that the two candidates have not met before the official encounter between families. Generally the brides are younger than their husbands, with ages ranging from 16 to 25. They must be virgins, demonstrating that virginity is still considered a great value in the Arab culture and must be strongly respected by the woman but not necessarily by the man. For the migrant woman the situation is completely different. In Tripoli, there are thousands of African women surviving by doing a number of small jobs while waiting to leave for Italy. This wait may last months or even years. Many of them become pregnant, especially during the long journey across the Sahara Desert and give birth to their babies wherever they find themselves, at great risk to both mother and child. The journey is risky and made of luck or long walks through the sand that burns by day and is very cold at night. Many people die of thirst, hunger or illness during the desert crossing while others lose their life in the sea before reaching Italy. Particular notice should be paid to the role carried out by the sisters in Tripoli that help the lonely, defenceless women continuously threatened by traffickers and exploiters who take advantage of their state of fragility and confusion to deprive them of their physical freedom and the freedom to make their own decisions. From these descriptions a great need emerges to create adequate structures to shelter and assist these young women in search of hope and a future. We hope to be able to continue working together with Caritas and other religious women who work in situations of great poverty but who are aware of the fact that the lives of these girls are as precious as ours and deserve to be safeguarded. All the religious women that do this work need our support in order to be able to provide immediate and concrete responses to those who live in destitution, becoming easy prey for traffickers without scruples whose only aim is to become rich through the exploitation of those in such situations of poverty. 4

5 From the bottom of my heart I thank all those who made this visit possible, in particular the religious women and workers who defend with great dedication and courage the rights of those without a voice. The Lord has allowed us to become their voice, to protect and safeguard them and their dignity as people who are loved and created in the image of God. Sr. Eugenia Bonetti, MC Roma, January 29, 2010 Copy Right Informing you of this report from Espresso, January 15, 2010: Morire nel deserto ( Dying in the Desert ). Please, to see it properly you may enter with Google. nel deserto/ &ref=hpsp 5