We talked about the mess that Obama helped create when he and several European leaders decided to depose Muammar Gaddafi in their zeal to spread the Arab Spring across North Africa here just a few days ago when former Libyan rebels toured US border crossings. Following the overthrow of Gaddafi, tens of thousands of economic migrants launched themselves from Libyan shores (escaping the joys of the Arab Spring) and landed in Europe (Malta and Italy mostly).
I’d like to know if the rebels in charge of Libya are going to close their ports so that no more “refugees” can embark to Europe? The rebels are Arabs and I wouldn’t be surprised if they ‘permitted’ those other dark-skinned ethnic groups to skip the country and head to Italy and Malta.
Last Sunday, hundreds of asylum seekers protested in an Italian city demanding their right to stay and get on welfare.
From Struggles in Italy (a lefty blog):
On Sunday, December 16, a group of migrants fleeing Libya demonstrated in the streets of Reggio Emilia, the city where they are currently living. Several associations called for the rally, including Associations Città Migrante, GA3, Emergency Reggio Emilia and Laboratorio Aq16. The migrants reminded everyone that the City of Reggio Emilia has not, to date, granted residency to asylum seekers from Libya; as their banner read, they want to be “no longer refugees, but citizens”.
In the wake of Gaddafi’s overthrow, around 20,000 people fled Libya and arrived in Italy, a country with a population of 60 million. Such numbers are hardly an “emergency”, the ridiculously inaccurate description used in the media and political discourse.
Following the Italian civil protection agency’s North Africa emergency plan, the asylum seekers were distributed across the country, according to agreements with the regions, provinces and municipalities, and according to each area’s population density. In the past year and a half, the Province of Reggio Emilia has received 200 migrants.
Most of the asylum seekers are not Libyan nationals: they originally fled other countries such as Somalia, Eritrea, Ghana, Nigeria, Mali, Chad, Sudan, the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Burkina Faso, but they were living and working in Libya at the time of the revolution.
So, why couldn’t they just stay and work there after the glorious revolution?