Libyan returnees stuck in desert say no going back
garart al-gatef — The wind whips up sand storms in Garart Al Gatef. Snakes and scorpions lurk amongst the desert scrub.
But hundreds of people who were stranded while trying to return to a town emptied in an act of collective punishment during Libya’s 2011 revolution have sworn to stay put here until they are allowed home.
The makeshift camp of 250 tents sprang up in early February after armed groups from the city of Misrata blocked convoys of displaced families trying to approach Tawergha, a town of about 40,000 that still lies in ruins. In doing so, they thwarted — at least temporarily — a landmark reconciliation effort to resolve a case that has symbolised the political and communal divisions which surfaced during and after Libya’s uprising.
It was forces from Misrata that chased Tawergha’s residents from their homes more than six years ago, accusing them of supporting a military siege of their city by Muammar Gaddafi, part of his failed attempt to crush the Natobacked revolt that overthrew him.
Tawergha’s residents, many of them the dark-skinned descendants of sub-Saharan African slaves, have since been scattered in squalid camps across Libya.
After long negotiations, they were told by the internationally recognised government in Tripoli that they could start moving back on February 1. Officials had even ordered 3,000 meals and a stage for a ceremony in Tawergha, said Mustafa Ghrema, a town council member living at Garart Al Gtaf. Diggers had started clearing some of the land.
But repeated attempts to approach Tawergha and set up camp there were blocked by a combination of uniformed forces and militiamen in civilian clothes, some of whom opened fire, Ghrema said.
“The militiamen who shot at us were not the same as the first group, who appeared to be organised military forces. They talked to us with respect and told us it was a problem and we could be exposed to danger,” he said. —