Discrimination and Abuse of African Migrants in Libya

Since the fall of the Gadhafi regime in Libya, armed militias are increasing instability within the country by hunting down and detaining both supporters of Gadhafi and African migrants and refugees. The reason African migrants are being targeted by these militias is because of a stigma that arose back during the revolution to topple the Gadhafi regime. It was reported that a vast majority of Sub-Sahara Africans in Libya were actually mercenaries working for Gadhafi. This report however was grossly over exaggerated. Once the people of Libya heard this report, they immediately assigned stigmas to all Sub-Saharan Africans and discriminated them harshly, even murdered some of them. This stigma is still strong in Libya and has led to the militias in charge to round up Africans along with those who are also believed to be supporters of the former leader. In many of these cases, those detained by these militias are brutally beaten and tortured.

This brings to mind the ethnic discrimination experienced here in the United States post 9/11. For the Libyans, Sub-Saharan Africans brought to mind an oppressive and dangerous government, while many Americans saw a terrorist in almost every Muslim and anyone who even resembled someone from the Middle-east. So now we have these people who are the target of an almost national hatred without having done anything to warrant such behavior. People who only wish to pass through a country or even make it their home, but are then detained under the pretense of their ethnicity because of a national fear that singles them out and labels them bad people. In times of strife, tolerance and understanding of others is easily disregarded.

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/decapua-libya-militias-16feb12-139448568.html