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Desolation, dismay await Libya displaced
AL-GAWALESH, Libya, Jan 27, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – “Our town has been looted,
homes wrecked and olive trees torched,” Moftah Mohammed said in dismay on
returning home to Al-Gawalesh in western Libya after years wandering from
place to place.
Al-Gawalesh, perched on the slopes of Jebel Nefussa, 120 kilometres (75
miles) west of Tripoli, paid the price for its support of former dictator
Moamer Kadhafi during a 2011 NATO-backed revolt in which he was captured and
killed.
Once home to close to 10,000 people, the town is a scene of desolation:
wind- and dirt-swept, burnt-out homes, destroyed schools and other public
buildings, devoid of any public services.
“It was July 6, 2011” when he and his family like all other residents had
to flee Al-Gawalesh, Mohammed said. “To stay would have meant death,” in the
face of NATO air strikes on Kadhafi’s forces.
Fear of reprisals by neighbouring communities which had sided with the
victorious rebels kept it a ghost town for the past seven-and-a-half years.
In the face of often entrenched bitterness and a hunger for revenge, the
United Nations mission in Libya has been working for reconciliation through
the return of displaced communities to their pre-war homes.
The way was cleared for a return to Al-Gawalesh with a reconciliation deal
signed back in 2015 between representatives of the towns of Jebel Nefussa
that came along with promises of financial aid.
But Mohammed said the pledges have remained a dead letter due to inaction
by successive government commissions.
Another recent returnee, Mohammed Bukraa, a man in his 70s who uses
crutches, said he “broke down” when he saw his home and those of his two sons
had been set ablaze.
– Health risks –
The town’s mayor, Said Amer, said residents were still waiting for
compensation payments to repair their homes.
“Some families have no choice but to live in these burnt-out homes, not
realising the risks posed to their health and that of their children,” the
mayor said.
The municipality says families have filed 1,600 compensation claims, none
of which have been settled.
Libya’s financial woes have blocked reconstruction in towns such as Al-
Gawalesh, according to the internationally recognised Government of National
Accord.
“We need a development plan and financing for reconstruction that we don’t
have,” Yussef Jalala, minister for the displaced in the Tripoli-based GNA,
told AFP.
He pinned the blame on the international community.
“On several occasions the international community has promised aid to help
rebuild devastated towns but nothing has materialised,” he said.
According to the latest figures published by the International Organization
for Migration, Libya’s displaced number around 187,000.
Human Rights Watch this week raised the alarm over the fate of Tawergha, a
town in northeast Libya that also sided with Kadhafi during the revolt.
Most of its 48,000 inhabitants have still been unable to return, more than
seven years on, it says.
“The Government of National Accord should urgently devise a strategy for
Tawerghans’ safe return, ensuring reconstruction and security,” it said.
“While nothing can reverse seven years of forced displacement and
dispersal, a measure of accountability for causing and preventing their
return will not only bring justice to victims of serious violations and
restore dignity, but it could serve as a deterrent for future crimes,” HRW
said.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0932 hrs