Migrants and Policies of Containment: Libya’s Case in the Wake of Qaddafi’s Fall

Since the late 1990s, Libya has experienced a phase of rapid economic growth and gradually become a preferred destination for significant international migration flows from other Arab countries, various sub-Saharan African countries, and even Asian countries such as Bangladesh, India, and China. Con...

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Main Author: Morone, Antonio Maria
Format: Online
Language:spa
Published: Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/astrolabio/article/view/41609
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author Morone, Antonio Maria
author_facet Morone, Antonio Maria
author_sort Morone, Antonio Maria
collection Portal de Revistas
description Since the late 1990s, Libya has experienced a phase of rapid economic growth and gradually become a preferred destination for significant international migration flows from other Arab countries, various sub-Saharan African countries, and even Asian countries such as Bangladesh, India, and China. Contrary to the perception of Libya as a transit country, many migrants actually stay in the country. Over the past three decades, Libyan territory has served as a true laboratory for experimenting migration policies between Libya and European countries, especially Italy. In the 1990s and the early 2000s, Libya was characterized by two opposing trends: on one hand, Qaddafi’s policies aimed at importing cheap labour from sub-Saharan Africa and Arab countries, and on the other, containment policies implemented by Italy to halt irregular migration flows across the Mediterranean, which were relatively small compared to the total number of migrants in Libya. This article aims to analyse the genesis and development of immigration containment policies, focusing especially on the relations between Italy and Libya. It examines their medium-term effects and discusses how these policies have not only undermined the rights of migrant individuals, but also served as a premise for their economic exploitation and social marginalization in both Libya and Italy.
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spelling oai:ojs.revistas.unc.edu.ar:article-416092024-01-07T21:50:25Z Migrants and Policies of Containment: Libya’s Case in the Wake of Qaddafi’s Fall Migrantes y políticas de contención: el caso de Libia al acabar el régimen de Gadafi Morone, Antonio Maria Libia Italia migraciones contención detención Since the late 1990s, Libya has experienced a phase of rapid economic growth and gradually become a preferred destination for significant international migration flows from other Arab countries, various sub-Saharan African countries, and even Asian countries such as Bangladesh, India, and China. Contrary to the perception of Libya as a transit country, many migrants actually stay in the country. Over the past three decades, Libyan territory has served as a true laboratory for experimenting migration policies between Libya and European countries, especially Italy. In the 1990s and the early 2000s, Libya was characterized by two opposing trends: on one hand, Qaddafi’s policies aimed at importing cheap labour from sub-Saharan Africa and Arab countries, and on the other, containment policies implemented by Italy to halt irregular migration flows across the Mediterranean, which were relatively small compared to the total number of migrants in Libya. This article aims to analyse the genesis and development of immigration containment policies, focusing especially on the relations between Italy and Libya. It examines their medium-term effects and discusses how these policies have not only undermined the rights of migrant individuals, but also served as a premise for their economic exploitation and social marginalization in both Libya and Italy. Desde finales de los años 1990, Libia ha experimentado una fase de crecimiento económico muy rápida y se ha convertido, gradualmente, en destino privilegiado de importantes flujos migratorios internacionales procedentes de otros países árabes, de varios países africanos al sur del Sahara e, incluso, de países asiáticos, como Bangladesh, India y China. Contrariando la visión de Libia como un país de tránsito, la realidad es que muchas personas migrantes se quedan en el país. Sin embargo, el espacio libio ha representado en las últimas tres décadas un auténtico laboratorio para las políticas migratorias aplicadas en la relación entre Libia y los países europeos, en primer lugar, Italia. En los 90 y en la primera década del siglo XXI, Libia se caracterizó por dos tendencias opuestas: por un lado, las políticas del régimen de Gadafi encaminadas a abrir el país a la importación de mano de obra barata del África subsahariana y los países árabes; y por otro, las políticas de contención aplicadas por Italia para detener los flujos migratorios irregulares a través del Mediterráneo, que eran relativamente pequeños en comparación con el número total de migrantes en Libia. Este artículo trata de analizar la génesis y el desarrollo de las políticas de contención de la inmigración, centrándose especialmente en las relaciones entre Italia y Libia, analizando sus efectos a mediano plazo y debatiendo cómo estas políticas no solo han ido en detrimento de los derechos de las personas migrantes, sino que también han sido la premisa para su explotación económica y marginación social en Libia e Italia. Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios sobre Cultura y Sociedad 2024-01-07 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Artículos revisados por pares application/pdf text/html https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/astrolabio/article/view/41609 10.55441/1668.7515.n32.41609 Astrolabio; No. 32 (2024): January - June: State and society in Africa today. Transformative dynamics and emerging actors; 136-157 Astrolabio; Núm. 32 (2024): Enero - Junio: Estado y sociedad en el África actual. Dinámicas transformadoras y protagonistas emergentes; 136-157 Astrolabio; n. 32 (2024): Enero - Junio: Estado y sociedad en el África actual. Dinámicas transformadoras y protagonistas emergentes; 136-157 1668-7515 10.55441/1668.7515.n32 spa https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/astrolabio/article/view/41609/44501 https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/astrolabio/article/view/41609/44502 Derechos de autor 2024 Antonio Maria Morone https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
spellingShingle Libia
Italia
migraciones
contención
detención
Morone, Antonio Maria
Migrants and Policies of Containment: Libya’s Case in the Wake of Qaddafi’s Fall
title Migrants and Policies of Containment: Libya’s Case in the Wake of Qaddafi’s Fall
title_alt Migrantes y políticas de contención: el caso de Libia al acabar el régimen de Gadafi
title_full Migrants and Policies of Containment: Libya’s Case in the Wake of Qaddafi’s Fall
title_fullStr Migrants and Policies of Containment: Libya’s Case in the Wake of Qaddafi’s Fall
title_full_unstemmed Migrants and Policies of Containment: Libya’s Case in the Wake of Qaddafi’s Fall
title_short Migrants and Policies of Containment: Libya’s Case in the Wake of Qaddafi’s Fall
title_sort migrants and policies of containment libya s case in the wake of qaddafi s fall
topic Libia
Italia
migraciones
contención
detención
topic_facet Libia
Italia
migraciones
contención
detención
url https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/astrolabio/article/view/41609
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