Aren’t the youth responsible for the chaos and instability in Libya? Aren’t they hampering the construction phase in Libya? Aren’t they the first to benefit from change? The Libyan youth made the sacrifices during the revolution and have had the largest share of martyrs. They protected the country and its vital facilities and they are the pillars of the nation building and the engine of reconstruction. 

Aren’t the youth responsible for the chaos and instability in Libya? Aren’t they hampering the construction phase in Libya? Aren’t they the first to benefit from change? The Libyan youth made the sacrifices during the revolution and have had the largest share of martyrs. They protected the country and its vital facilities and they are the pillars of the nation building and the engine of reconstruction. 

But at the same time, the youth, unintentionally, is also hampering the reconstruction process. They are attacking government property, damaging forests, encroaching on green areas, implementing protests in oil fields and state institutions and hampering the construction and development movement.

All those sit-ins, violations and abuses that are routinely and repeatedly occurring have one thing in common: weapons.  It is the most powerful option for many youth to impose their ideas and to see that their legitimate as well as illegitimate demands are met.  No one denies the sacrifices made by the youth in Libya, but on the other hand, they cannot monopolize the gains that have been made by the Libyan revolution and which made it succeed. Without the involvement of politicians and the true opposition inside and outside the country, (who were able to mobilize the support of the international community and the West in particular) to support the Libyan people, things wouldn’t have reached this end. 

The country relies on its youth to rebuild it, in a phase of its history where it is in dire need of every helping hand in order to bring the country out of its current stagnant state and put it in the ranks of the advanced countries. What we are seeing and witnessing every day is the blocking of the main roads because of demands, grievances or political or material gains. We are seeing forests and trees getting damaged and the state-owned land and property being attacked. We are seeing that there are repeated sit-ins, such as those launched by oil and gas workers. We are seeing the closure of fields and this is leading to frequent electricity supply deficit because of the difficulty in supplying gas to the plants and thus causing counter protests by citizens.

With the spread of arms in outside of state institutions, especially in the hands of young people, the arms trade becomes the biggest danger that is threatening everyone coming in and out of the country. Today, criminals and outlawed groups have no difficulty in the acquisition of arms. This has made armed robberies widely spread and is increasingly threatening the security and safety of citizens.

The spread of weapons is a major obstacle facing the judiciary, the justice process and adequate security. It also undermines the power of the state both inside and outside of the country. The delay in activating the role of the police and army has contributed to the spread of these negative phenomena, which are contributing to the collapse of the modern state. It is the police and the army who are capable of imposing the prestige of the state and of protecting its property and institutions.

Young people are the backbone and the main pillars of progress and development. All nations rely on their youth in the building of the homeland. This cannot be achieved without the right education and moral and intellectual sophistication capable of improving the capacities of the youth and making the positive behavior overcome the negative and wrong behaviors. Today, the government, the major state institutions and civil society should think about plans and mechanism in order to collect weapons from the youth and put it in the stores of the defense ministry, the only institution that should be authorized to own arms.  All national and social forces should take part in this project.