My sister suffers from chronic digestive problems and acute colitis— an inflammatory bowel disease. After several medical examinations at a clinic in Tobruk the doctors there advised us to travel to Egypt or Tunisia for proper medical treatment.

My sister suffers from chronic digestive problems and acute colitis— an inflammatory bowel disease. After several medical examinations at a clinic in Tobruk the doctors there advised us to travel to Egypt or Tunisia for proper medical treatment.

This proposal didn’t seem unusual since our country suffers from a deteriorated health sector. So my sister and I decided to travel to Egypt – the closest and the cheapest option – in the beginning of mid-year holiday since she is a teacher at a primary school and her academic schedule would not allow even one day of absence.

I searched for addresses of clinics and doctors in Alexandria and we decided to travel on the first day of the holiday. Therefore, I applied for a visa at the Egyptian Consulate in Benghazi on January 17 .

Ten days later, I called the consulate in Benghazi to inquire about the arrival date and their answer was: “Tomorrow, God willing,” even though I was told I would receive the visas only one week after the application date. I heard this promise repeatedly, but to no avail.

I received advice of all sorts: “Go to the port – the secondary port – and try to find a way out” – illegally of course – “From there, where you may – through bribery and fraud – enter even without a passport.”

Afterwards, I contacted a friend working at Tobruk’s medical center thinking he could provide me with a medical report for my sister that would enable me to accompany her without a visa, considering her poor health status. But he advised me to dismiss the idea since medical report procedures cost more time and effort than a visa.

I managed through a friend of mine to contact another immigration office in Benghazi. It promised to get a four-week visa in return for 120 Libyan Dinars ($ US 95) while the official cost at the Egyptian Embassy is 28 Dinars (US $22). But I agreed because I had no other choice and I could not afford to stay in Benghazi for an entire week. I was also wary of the dates and promises of the embassy. So, despite the importance of the document, I sent my passport and the required amount of money to Benghazi with a taxi driver.

We agreed on a delivery date a week later but that also did not happen. After all these efforts, they refused to grant me the visa without providing a reason.

Keeping the Bad Guys In

The decision to require visas for male Libyans aged 18-45 was issued at the request of Libya under the National Transitional Council headed by Mustafa Abdul Jalil and head of his Executive Office, Mahmoud Jibril.

The reason was to prevent Gaddafi loyalists from escaping to Egypt— as if such figures like Ahmed Gaddaf Dam (Gaddafi’s cousin) or Tayeb Safi (Gaddafi’s closest aide) would not flee Libya unless they had a visa from the Egyptian Embassy or the Egyptian Consulate in Benghazi!

According to media statements, there are one million Libyans in Tunisia and a million in Egypt, while I and many others who need to travel to Egypt for medical treatment or to accompany their sick relatives, spend their time on the desert roads to and from Benghazi.

If we assume that the Egyptian government is behind this issue for economic motives, as it has been rumored, then why does our government not open an office for the Egyptian Embassy charge d’affaires in Tobruk to process the transactions of the people of the eastern regions that are far from Benghazi, or is it centralization within centralization a la Benghazi!?

Under Gaddafi, we had an Italian Consulate in Tobruk and we could obtain a Schengen Visa by taking a taxi for five minutes at a cost of one dinar, whereas at the time of the revolution, we crossed all of these distances and paid all these expenses to ask for permission to enter a country where we used to be treated as royalty two years ago, let alone the ill-treatment by the Egyptian as well as Libyan costums.

The Egyptian government is entitled to impose any procedure that serves its interest, but to ignore the complicated situation in which the Libyan government has put its people through is just very saddening.

While many in Eastern Libya and Benghazi in particular, speak about the need to eliminate the centralization practiced by Tripoli over other Libyan cities, we are suffering from the centralization of Benghazi here in Tobruk.

Tobruk is neither a village nor a small region. It is the largest nearest town to Egypt and it witnesses a great number of commercial and industrial activities. It also contains a large Egyptian community in addition to the close ties – marriage, relatives and commerce – between residents of Tobruk and western Egyptian cities.

Furthermore, if we add cities such as Derna, Al Qubbah and their suburbs, since they are closer to Tobruk than Benghazi, we have a vast geographical area of more than 300,000 kilometers and a population of 400,000, which exceeds the population of Benghazi itself, not to mention foreigners and the Egyptian community in particular.

I only ask to open an office for the Egyptian Embassy charge d’affaires in Tobruk in order to facilitate citizens’ procedures and prevent mediator offices from exploiting people’s time, health and circumstances.