In the Muhajireen neighborhood in Sabha, in southern Libya, thousands of illegal immigrants are homeless and only have cement bags to protect them from the weather. The majority of them are sub-Saharan Africans, mostly women and children – they outnumber the city’s Libyan-born population.
Happy to be here
“We are not considering crossing the sea,” says Hafsa Abu Bakr, a Nigerien immigrant living in Sabha with her four children. “We are settled here and barely staying alive.”
In the Muhajireen neighborhood in Sabha, in southern Libya, thousands of illegal immigrants are homeless and only have cement bags to protect them from the weather. The majority of them are sub-Saharan Africans, mostly women and children – they outnumber the city’s Libyan-born population.
Happy to be here
“We are not considering crossing the sea,” says Hafsa Abu Bakr, a Nigerien immigrant living in Sabha with her four children. “We are settled here and barely staying alive.”
Niger is one of the poorest countries in world and with the smallest growth rate – eighty percent of its surface area is covered by the Sahara Desert. Drought and desertification jeopardize the remaining part of the country, which led Hafsa among thousands of others, to migrate a year and a half ago to Libya, despite the war.
The trip cost Hafsa $US 230, which she paid to a Libyan smuggler. Finally, she rented an old, pitiful hut for 80 Libyan dinars a month (about $US 50).
“I am happy to be here because I have enough resources to raise my children.” Hafsa explained that sneaking in has become much easier in the last five years due to the total absence of Libyan security along the southern borders.
Cooking rules
Hafsa has two professions that keep her from starving and allow her to provide for her family.
She cooks porridge made with slices of dried tomatoes and red pepper. She sells the dish for LYD 2 (about $US 1.4). But she only prepares this meal, making sure to leave the different specialties to other women.
“There is an agreement among us,” says Nana Namo who cooks Kadkido, a favorite dish among immigrants. Her work earns her a small salary and provides immigrants with their favorite dishes. “Libyans do not buy our food and we do not sell it to them,” Nana explains. Immigrant women in the city neighborhoods cook rice, pasta and porridge.
Indefinite name
Not far from the Muhajirin neighborhood where the women cook, lies the Anti-Illegal Immigration Center in Sabha. It consists of 400 trained men who attempt to fight illegal immigration. “It is not enough,” says Walid Amer, head of the center. “Facing 300,000 illegal immigrants in Sabha alone and with 159,000 citizens, we lack capabilities.”
Sabha has one single refugee center in Al-Naseria, which is currently holding more than 1,000 immigrants. “The situation has become very difficult. Daily, large numbers of immigrants are transferred here from other centers in Misrata, Jafra, Al-Zawiya, and the third force in charge of protecting the south where immigrants are supposed to be gathered and returned to their countries.”
Begging to supplement income
With an unregulated flow of immigrants, shantytowns are growing and full of beggars. Tin huts host the immigrants and their restaurants, one of which is run by Hafsa.
“Although I cook and sell food, I barely manage to provide for my family. Therefore, I beg,” says Hafsa.
“Begging became a main profession for some immigrants who were already disabled. Their income is copious. They also use children in begging, mobilizing entire families to beg around mosques, banks, shops and all around the city,” says Mohamed Na’em, the official spokesperson of the Municipal Guards Apparatus in Sabha.
Profitable business
“Begging necessitates exhaustive moves to some far and different neighborhoods. It is more profitable than cooking and I could not feed my children without it,” says Hafsa.
“People here are different. Some of them are kind to us, others are brutal. Sometimes, we are robbed and we pay police fines to be released when we’re arrested. However, life here is still much better compared to our home countries, where thousands starve to death every year,” she explains.
Despite hostile feelings that Hafsa may face during her daily journey, some people pity for her.
“Their hard living conditions in their countries obliged them to immigrate. Otherwise, they would not come to Libya and beg,” says Ali Issa, a thirty-year-old Libyan.
“The situation for immigrants at the refugee centers is terrible. Some officials there are disbursing their own money to look after the immigrants, whereas, the consulates of the immigrants’ countries could not care less,” explains Omaima Mohamed Basheer, a member of the Municipal Council in Sabha.
Hafsa plans to save enough money to go back to her country for a while to enroll her children in school before returning to Libya.
“Libya does not admit our children. They cannot study here. I do not want them to beg nor to live from cooking porridge,” she explained.
