country between the UN-recognized – and partially -initiated – Government of the National Accord in Tripoli and the military-backed House of Representatives under Khalifa Belqasim Haftar in the East. In this setting, militias more or less affiliated with one side or the other played essential roles as well.
The political instability of the post-Gaddafi period also triggered a collapse of the security system, which has since then been taken advantage of by transnational criminal networks smuggling drugs, weapons, and, most importantly, migrants. The smuggling of migrants is a lucrative business because Libya is an important stopover for people fleeing from other African countries. From Libya, they want to cross the Mediterranean to then demand asylum in Italy or continue their journey on to other European countries. Due to the security breakdown, migration to Libya and attempts to reach Europe through the Mediterra-
nean have increased after the outbreak of the civil war. The increase in refugees arriving in Italy was met with growing concern by the European Union. It led to a reinforcement of monetary support for Libya to stop irregular immigration. One specific example is the deal between Italy and Libya that was signed in 2017. According to The Guardian, it assured a payment of
of these investments is that a stronger coastguard would also prevent deaths on the Mediterranean refugee route by preventing transfers in the first place. It is indeed true that increased financial support of Libya’s coast guard led to a drastic decrease in people arriving in Europe. However, it is not true that this correlates with higher safety of the refugees. On the contrary, statistics show that the Mediterranean route has become much more deadly since the increase in investment in so-called border protection. Described by Karim El-Gawhary in his book “Repression and Rebellion,” in 2017, every 42nd refugee died on the Mediterranean. In 2018, comparatively, it was every 18th. Research from EU fact checks show that Libya has received payments from the EU to the height of 698.2 million euros in the period between 2014 and 2020. This money is meant to go to humanitarian aid, the Emergency Fund for Africa, and stability and peace projects.
about 90 million euros and provided training for coastguards and new speed boats to prevent migrants from taking the Mediterranean refugee route to Italy. The humanitarian legitimization
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