LIBYA WORKS TO FIND BALANCE ON LABOR AND MIGRATION ISSUES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TRIPOLI 000506

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/MAG, PRM, DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 8/29/2016
TAGS: PHUM PREL PREF LY
SUBJECT: LIBYA WORKS TO FIND BALANCE ON LABOR AND MIGRATION ISSUES

REF: A) 05 TRIPOLI 332 B) TRIPOLI 373

CLASSIFIED BY: Gregory L. Berry, Chief of Mission, Executive ,
Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)

1. (C) SUMMARY. The GOL is beginning to work with international
partners such as UNHCR and IOM on facing their migration
challenges, but there is still ample room for strengthening
cooperation. A staggering 750,000 to one million migrant workers
currently live within Libya's borders in addition to its local
population of 5.5 million. Migrant workers from Africa and Egypt
contribute to the economy and fill jobs that traditionally
Libyans have not been willing to perform, especially menial and
semi-skilled labor. Libya is trying to maintain a balance in
stemming the tide of illegal migration from Africa, while still
maintain its leading role in the continent. An upcoming UN
conference on migration might be a platform to engage with the
international community on combating illegal migration. While
trying to secure its land borders, it also must grapple with the
growing issue of foreign nationals using its coastline as a
launching point for the dangerous boat journey to Europe. The
Secretary of Labor, while recognizing the need for foreign labor

SIPDIS
sources, is under pressure to bring down the high unemployment
rate for the country's young population. Clearly, the GOL is
willing to work with international partners to a certain degree
on its migrant worker challenges, but there is no clear
timetable for doing so. END SUMMARY.

MIGRATION BY THE NUMBERS
--------------


2. (SBU) International organizations estimate there are 750,000
to one million migrants within Libyan borders, working mainly in
the construction, oil, hotel and restaurant industries. In a
country with a local population of only 5.5 million, their
presence is highly apparent. Of these migrant workers, UNHCR
believes that approximately 5% fall within their mandate,
especially those from the Horn of Africa region. While migrants
from most Arab countries can enter without a visa and stay for a
period of up to six months, Africans have a difficult time
obtaining visitor visas and many enter illegally through the
almost 4500 km of desert land borders that Libya shares with its
neighbors. Migrant workers without the proper documentation are
subject to frequent deportations. According to a GOL contact at
the General Peoples Committee for Foreign Liaison and
International Cooperation (Ministry of Foreign Affairs
equivalent),50,000 illegal migrants were identified by the
local law enforcement during just one month this summer, many of
whom were sent to local detention centers and deported.

LOCAL UNHCR AND IOM OFFICES SAY COOPERATION STALLED, BUT
POTENTIAL EXISTS
-------------- --------------
--------------


3. (C) The Chief of Mission at UNHCR in Tripoli, Mohamed Hantosh
Alwash characterized his office's relationship with the GOL as
"stalled", primarily on the issue of finalizing an official MOU
with the government (ref A). In addition, the GOL still does
not officially recognize the existence of refugees within their
borders. "Migrant workers are seen as African brothers or Arab
brothers, never people in need of help" says Alwash. Still,
there are some encouraging signs of cooperation. Last month, the
World Islamic Call Society, an adjunct organization funded by
GOL to promote moderate Islamic thought, hosted World Refugee
Day in conjunction with UNHCR. Alwash calls this a "step in the
right direction" and hopes to follow up with a migration and
asylum conference this November or December, with the blessing
of the GOL. UNHCR is given informal access to Libyan detention
centers to screen for refugees, and in some instances, migrants
identified as refugees are given over to UNHCR custody. Alwash
also is pleased with the recent formation a committee at the
General People's Committee for Justice to draft a law on asylum.


4. (C) Laurence Hart, Chief of Mission at the International
Organization For Migration, granted full status in August, 2005,
listed the organization's priorities in Libya as "capacity
building, assistance to migrants, research and border
management." IOM hopes in the near future to conduct field
research to get a better sense for migration patterns and
numbers. Clearly, the GOL has to work with them to achieve this
goal, but they too have seen positive developments recently,
especially in the creation of an inter-ministerial committee on
migration. Hart says that this committee may be able to give
some consistency to immigration laws, which he characterizes as
"vague and without clear implementation."

AFRICAN MIGRANTS IN LIBYA: A BIT LESS THAN WELCOME
-------------- --------------


5. (C) When strolling through crowded Abu Saleem market, located
in Tripoli's suburbs, one steps out of the Middle East enters
the heart of an African city--and a diverse one at that.
Ethiopian run hair salons sit adjacent to Camerooni, Malian, and
Sudanese restaurants in this basic market. The African community
here is poor, but well established. Ten years ago, as part of an
overall strategy to achieve of pan-African unity, Leader Moammar
Qadhafi implemented an 'open door policy' for Africans
interested in seeking jobs in Libya. More African migrants came
than expected, however, and now most are required to obtain
visitor visas to enter the country, a difficult task. Many
Africans living in Libya entered illegally across a land border.
The African community is subject to suspicion from locals.
African migrants are often blamed for increasing crime in
metropolitan areas. Five years ago, riots broke out in the
African community when a Libyan family charged an African
migrant with rape and retaliated against the man. The GOL deals
with the community cautiously.


6. (C) While the Leader still sees himself as the father of the
continent, the government has clearly reconsidered its open door
policy and is making attempts to 'regularize' illegal migrants.
Because African migrants are more easily recognizable compared
to Arab migrants, they are subject to more frequent
deportations. The GOL fully recognizes that, even if they wanted
to, they do not have the means to deport all illegal migrants.
"It is too expensive to deport all of them, to feed them and
keep them in centers" said Ibrahim Dabbashi, a representative
from the General People's Committee (GPC) for Foreign Liaison
and International Cooperation (MFA equivalent) office of
International Organizations. In addition to some sporadic
deportations, the GOL's long-term strategy to stem the tide of
African migrants is tied in with its pan-African ideology.
According to Dabbashi, the GOL hopes to "stop the reason that
people want to leave their countries by developing African
nations from within" using various infrastructure and investment
projects (ref B). If they receive U.S. visas in time to travel,
the GOL hopes to send 25 representatives to the upcoming UN High
Level Dialogue on Migration, and is looking to use the
conference as a platform to engage with the international
community on problem of illegal migrants. According to Dabbashi,
it is difficult for the GOL to engage regionally with Africa on
the issue of illegal migration because of a "conflict of
interest"--Libya is a supplier of jobs that do to a certain
degree help support African economies.

EGYPTIANS AND NORTH AFRICANS: ARAB BROTHERS HAVE MORE LEEWAY
-------------- --------------

7.(C) Egyptians, Tunisians, and Moroccans constitute a large
percentage of migrant labor force in Libya, especially in the
hotel and restaurant industries. Unlike African migrant
laborers, they can enter legally without a visa and stay for up
to 6 months. Many of them are able to find work within that
period, but often work without an official contract. The
Egyptian consul in Tripoli spends a lot of his time negotiating
disputes between Libyan employers and Egyptian workers.
He is frequently summoned to Rasheed Street, located near the
Corinthia Hotel where the U.S. Embassy is working out of
temporary space, when Libyan police arrest Egyptians who are
perceived to be involved in the smuggling trade, which
notoriously operates out of the low end hotels in the area. The
GOL is making gestures to regularize the status of their "Arab
brothers" as well. On July 18, the GPC for Manpower, Training,
and Employment announced a law forbidding the hiring or
employing any foreign worker without a contract between both
parties. The law also called for the extradition of non-national
manpower that has not been regularized. It is unclear exactly
what steps are being taken to enforce this new regulation.
According to the Egyptian consul, even those Egyptians who are
deported for working illegally can easily reenter Libya along
the 1100 km desert border that exists between the two nations,
generally aided by the Awlad Ali tribe, notorious smugglers of
people, weapons, and drugs.

DESTINATION: EUROPE
--------------

8.(C) While some migrants enter the country merely seeking to
earn a living in Libya, others use it as base to get to far more
attractive destinations in Europe. The 2000 km stretch of Libyan
coastline is an ideal launching point for human smugglers, and
the western cities of Zuwara and Misrauta are the most notorious
points for embarkation. In July of this year, IOM statistics
show that 3000 migrants landed in Lampedusa, a small island off
the coast of Italy, from Libya. A majority of those landing are
from Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt, with the remainder from
western and central African countries. According to the Italian
Consul, Italian authorities detained 14,000 migrants from Libya
since January, 2006, representing just a fraction of those who
have made the journey. International and local sources say
smugglers charge between 1500 to 2500 USD for the dangerous
trip, and those willing to pay the price are often carried in
crowded boats containing upwards of 100 passengers and an
uncertain future if they make it to Europe.

9.(C) The GOL has a large stake in breaking up smuggling rings
and stemming the tide of illegal migration to Europe. Besides
the negative PR aspect when would be migrants perish at sea,
often reported in the international press, the GOL also has to
expend a lot of resources to identify, shelter, and deport
migrants caught trying to get to Europe. EU member nations,
especially Italy, are working with Libya by providing additional
border patrol equipment and constructing shelters for deportees.
Endemic challenges exist, however. According to UNHCR, human
smugglers can easily bribe local border police. The GOL is still
defining just how much cooperation it is willing to have with
the EU on border patrol. This week, the Libyan Ambassador in
Malta announced the GOL's rejection of the idea of a joint naval
patrol with Italy and Malta because it is "against international
law", saying that the government prefers financial and technical
aid to Libya and assistance with a long-term solution to the
eradication of poverty in Africa.

EMPLOYMENT CRUNCH
--------------


10. (C) For years, migrant workers have filled jobs that Libyans
refused to perform. While the mentality of Libyans is changing a
bit on this front, there is clearly still a need for migrant
laborers to fill menial and semi-skilled jobs. At the same time,
the GOL is struggling to balance its need for migrant workers
with a mandate from Secretary of the General People's Committee
for Manpower, Training, and Employment, to drastically reduce
unemployment. Official figures pin unemployment at 13% out of
local population of 5.5 million, almost half of whom are under
20 years old. The strategy to grapple with the challenge is a
mixed bag, ranging from maintaining a bloated bureaucracy,
providing small loans to private citizens to open private
businesses, as well as assorted attempts at job creation. There
is also a large focus on ensuring that newly opened foreign
businesses remain partially "Libyanized." Foreign companies and
embassies operating in Libya must comply with government quotas
to employee local workers. The government oftentimes will not
issue residency visas to third country nationals looking to work
at foreign companies. This poses a challenge to international
institutions must draw from a fairly limited pool of English
speaking Libyans and would often prefer to hire third country
nationals who possess essential skills.


11. (C) According to the local IOM representative, the GOL must
define exactly what needs exist in the labor market and set up
agreements with source countries to recruit people with those
skills. Post is aware of only one such pending agreement.
According to the Filipino consul, during President Arroyo's
visit last month to Libya, the two nations began negotiating
long term contracts for Filipino nurses to fill staffing gaps in
hospitals and train local staff on proper nursing practices.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING-POTENTIAL FOR COOPERATION WITH INTERNATIONAL
ORGANIZATIONS
--------------

12.(C) In an encouraging sign of cooperation with the
international community, the GOL recently approached IOM
officials in country and asked for assistance on what they see
as a growing problem of international human trafficking.
According to the IOM representative in country, the GOL wants
assistance in dealing with the problem of Nigerian women who are
trafficked for sex into Tripoli. While prostitution is not
immediately apparent in this conservative country, clearly the
government has detected, perhaps through raids in migrant
neighborhoods, women who presumably brought here to service the
almost all male migratory work force in the city. When Post has
asked Libyan officials if there are opportunities for bilateral
cooperation on trafficking issues, they have unanimously said
that Libya would only work through international organizations.

13.(C) COMMENT. The GOL seems to be making serious efforts to
control their border security as best as possible. Like the US,
they face the challenge of a long and porous border, coupled
with a true need in the economy for cheap migrant labor,
especially in the construction industry. They have indicated a
willingness to work with the international community on their
migrant labor challenges. But, Qadhafi's ideology of pan-African
unity will clearly influence how they address this issue. Libya
will continue to shy away from projects that bring "outsiders to
Libya" or are perceived to infringe on Libyan sovereignty, for
example, the proposed joint Libyan-Maltese naval patrols to
interdict illegal migrants. There are some promising signs that
they are willing to engage on migration issues, but as in most
subjects, it will be on their own, slow and convoluted,
timeline. END COMMENT.
GOLDRICH