On the road from the south western city of Ghat to Isin—the Libyan-Algerian port— a worn monument commemorates the spot where Libyans and Algerians shed blood in their struggles against French colonial rule in 1957.
The damage done during those conflicts is still apparent. Carcasses of French military vehicles burned in battle stand in memory of the countries’ period of jihad. Border patrol office doors are decayed and rusty and the kitchen is not even fit to be a dumping ground for waste, which has led employees to cook their food outdoors.
On the road from the south western city of Ghat to Isin—the Libyan-Algerian port— a worn monument commemorates the spot where Libyans and Algerians shed blood in their struggles against French colonial rule in 1957.
The damage done during those conflicts is still apparent. Carcasses of French military vehicles burned in battle stand in memory of the countries’ period of jihad. Border patrol office doors are decayed and rusty and the kitchen is not even fit to be a dumping ground for waste, which has led employees to cook their food outdoors.
The employees perform their duties as well as they can, awaiting a change in the country’s political situation, hoping that it might change their daily reality.
“The guards work under unreasonable conditions,” said Abdul Rahman Wali, commander of the border office. “There are 14 employees who have nothing but light weapons amid a sea of smugglers armed with all types of heavy weapons,” he said.
Smuggling ranges from drugs to illegal migrants looking for work. The migrants make precarious journeys in crossing the Libyan border under the possibility faced with the threat of getting lost in the desert, thirst and hunger, not to mention the danger of bandits and thieves, or falling victims to exploitation in all its forms.
Primitive life
State representatives in the port are unable to impose any kind of control or reform. They lack modern equipment that could speed up their work or link them to their departments. They register the movement in and out of the country on paper and send memoranda because they have no computers.
“The tin containers in which they live do not fend off the biting cold of that area. They suffer a lack of food supply as well as insecurity in port vicinity,” added Wali.
He said he addressed the competent authorities, but they only sent ten blankets and ten beds. Salaries of employees who follow the Battalion 401 of the Libyan army—800 dinars per month (US $641) are low and not commensurate with the risk they and their families are exposed to. They also received no health insurance or travel allowances, which makes them easy prey for bribery and corruption.
Commando battalions
“The circumstances surrounding the port increase the situation’s complexity,” Wali stressed. “One of the Commando battalions is stationed in the vicinity of port. They are armed African mercenaries who entered Libya during the revolution and spread in Ubari, Ghat and surrounding areas to fight for the former regime. Civilians have condoned them so they have deployed in open areas and unfinished residential projects. They have their own neighborhoods and areas now and most of them survive on smuggling and banditry and working for some of the armed militias.”
Wali cannot deal firmly with this battalion despite knowing that they play a major role in the smuggling of operations. “While smuggling people, drugs and cannabis into Libya, they smuggle fuel and food supplies outside the country. The Commandos have supporters inside and outside Libya and they have increased by number since the events of Mali.” He also clarified that they are closely watching the workflow in the port, but they do not interfere unless something threatens their existence.
Algerian side
Port officers face another problem. They have only two vehicles, which prevents them from patrolling in order to monitor the border.
On the outskirts of the Algerian Shennancom port, 45 kilometers southwest of Isin, calm prevails in the high mountains and vast open areas, where there is only the sound of a car or animals living there.
Between mountains, there are many paths and lanes the port is unable to control. “The Algerian side overlooks the smuggling operations and facilitates illegal immigrants crossing the border to Libya,” said port officer Hamza with a sigh. He said the Algerian side infringed Libyan land more than once making it difficult to control the vast area of extended mountains and desert.
Brazen border crossings
“I am an Algerian Tuareg, but I have no identification papers. The Algerian police arrested us but then let us go. I come to Libya to work in Ubari,” said a passenger in a people-smuggling car, which entered the Libyan border through the port.
The port is unable to send them back due to a shortage of means or refer them to the department of illegal immigration because the latter has no vacancies. The port is also unable to keep them since it does not have housing and so migrants enter Libya in broad daylight.
The border guards in the city of Sabha said they are in the process of developing a program to support border crossings in the south, but have not yet revealed any details about the plan.
