After the 2011 uprising and the ensuing NATO military intervention thatcontributed to the collapse of the Gaddafi regime, Libya has not foundstability. Recent political and military tensions, following the killingof powerful militia commander Abdel Ghani al-Kikli (Kikli was head of the Stability Support Facility (SSA), a powerful militia previously linked to the Government of National Unity (GNU) but recently operatingmore independently; a Western ally in the fight against irregularimmigration, he is accused of serious human rights violations), which have brought Libya to the brink of new conflict, are the inevitable consequence of a politically and territorially fragmented country.
Libya's ethnic division is part of a complex mosaic of ethnic groups
(Arabs, Berbers, Tuareg, and Toubous), tribes (approximately 140), and
historical regions (Tripolitania, Cyrenaica, and Fezzan), deeply rooted
in the country's history. This ethnic and tribal fragmentation has
contributed to a strong development of rivalries and conflicts, which
intensified after the fall of Gaddafi in 2011, marking the end of
artificial national unity and the return of multiple local and national
particularisms.
Hundreds of armed militias, estimated at more than 200 according to
recent estimates, divide the territory between two main, opposing
factions: the Government of National Accord (GNU) led by Prime Minister
Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, which controls Tripoli and the northwestern
territory, supported by the High Council of State, the Presidential
Council, and with the support of Turkey; and General Khalifa Haftar,
who, through the House of Representatives and the Government of National
Stability, controls the east of the country and vast regions of central
and southern Libya with the support of Russia.
Social crisis and union struggles
Over the past three years, Libya has experienced a very difficult
economic situation, with low average incomes and growing social
tensions. In 2025, the average monthly salary in Libya is approximately
300 euros, with substantial variations depending on the size of the
company and the sector: while in large companies it reaches 430 euros,
in micro-enterprises the average drops to 180 euros. In the public
sector, the average salary is around 240 euros.
Libya, once among the countries with the highest per capita income in
Africa, has seen a significant decline, especially since 2011, further
exacerbated by conflict and instability. GDP is expected to partially
recover in 2023-2025, but unemployment remains high, above 15%.
The challenging economic situation has generated intense labor and
social struggles. In recent years, popular discontent has exploded in
protests against the rising cost of living, the lack of essential public
services, and the lack of labor protections. Independent unions and
labor groups have organized strikes, demonstrations, and demands for
wage reforms and better working conditions, especially in the public and
oil sectors.
These union mobilizations have not been limited to wage demands, but
have also denounced widespread corruption and a political situation that
fuels wealth inequality. Political fragmentation and the presence of
armed militias complicate the possibility of unified union organization
and representation, slowing the process of working-class emancipation.
The hydrocarbon industry
Libya's economy is primarily based on oil and natural gas extraction.
With reserves of 48 billion barrels of oil, it is among the top 10
producing countries in the world and the largest in Africa. Libya also
has significant natural gas reserves and is the fifth largest gas
producer on the African continent. It's worth noting that Italy is a
major buyer of Libyan oil and gas.
The strategic role these two resources have assumed in the country's
economy is central to understanding Libya's past and present history.
It was following the Suez Crisis of 1956 that Libyan oil production
became of extreme importance to Western countries.
As reported in Giampaolo Cadalanu's book "Under the Sand": "King Idris's
government had granted around sixty geological exploration concessions
to a dozen foreign companies" and "the first productive oil well was
drilled in 1959 in the Sirte region, at Zelten (now Nasser)." Given the
size of the field, Exxon, the concession holder, built a pipeline and a
terminal on the Mediterranean: the 167-kilometer pipeline had the
capacity to transport approximately 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day
to the Marsa al Brega terminal. Inaugurated in October 1961, the project
guaranteed the export of seven million barrels for that year alone and
represented a turning point for Libya.
In 1962 Libya, with an annual production of 67.1 million barrels, joined
OPEC, and by 1965 oil production from its fields had reached 445.4
million barrels.
It is well known that one of the objectives of the 1969 military coup,
known as "Operation Jerusalem," which brought about the fall of the
"reactionary, corrupt, autocratic, and rotten" regime of King Idris and
brought Muammar al-Gaddafi to power, was the monarchy's inadequacy in
managing oil resources.
Indeed, upon taking office, Gaddafi initiated a renegotiation of oil
concessions with foreign companies, obtaining more advantageous terms
and, through the nationalization of resources, forced them to cede
significant portions of their holdings to the Libyan government. Oil
represented the country's main source of revenue, accounting for
approximately 95% of exports and generating considerable wealth. It was
on the basis of the interests surrounding oil and gas and the active
role of the Libyan state in economic management that an elite would
emerge, made up of political and military leaders intertwined with
Gaddafi and his entourage, which would represent the new national
bourgeoisie.
Since the fall of Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has been plagued by internal
conflicts and territorial divisions. The redistribution of oil revenues
is a key cause of disagreements between the two rival governments vying
for power and dividing the country: the Government of National Unity
(GNU), based in Tripoli, and the Government of National Stability (GSN),
based in Tobruk.
The recent change in leadership of the National Oil Company (NOC) is
also a key element of the country's broader political and military
crisis, where control of oil resources is becoming a weapon of power
between various rival governments and militias, with direct impacts on
the national economy, political stability, and security.
Farhat Bengdara, appointed president of the NOC in July 2022 and
recently replaced by Massoud Suleman, officially resigned for health
reasons but is accused of facilitating illicit trafficking for the
benefit of the Haftar clan.
A UN panel of experts recently focused on the activities of Arkenu, a
private oil company founded in 2023 and effectively controlled by Saddam
Haftar (son of General Khalifa). Arkenu is the only private company in
Libya formally authorized by the NOC to produce and export oil.
According to Reuters, since last May, Arkenu has exported oil worth at
least $600 million, managing the funds outside of the Central Bank. Key
figures in Arkenu's administration include not only several members of
the Haftar clan, but also figures close to Prime Minister Dbeibah. The
company could therefore represent one of the main tools for dividing oil
revenues between East and West.
The business of human trafficking
After the embarrassing rejection of the European Union
delegation-composed of Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, his
Greek and Maltese counterparts, Thanos Plevris and Byron Camilleri, and
the European Commissioner for Migration, Magnus Brunner-set up by the
parallel government in Benghazi, under the control of Khalifa Haftar,
the Interior Ministry has taken action, declaring that "relations with
both factions in Libya are excellent."
For Europe, and especially for Italy, Libya is a strategic interlocutor
for managing the flow of migrants departing from the Libyan coast and
arriving from sub-Saharan Africa. Even the ministers forced to leave
Libya are well aware that Haftar's influence, as he leads the militias
controlling the coasts from which the largest number of migrants depart
for Italy, is of fundamental importance.
The European delegation has reduced the matter to a question of
protocol, but it is more likely that the authorities in eastern Libya
are aiming for international recognition and asking for more money in
exchange for their commitment to carry out the "dirty work" on behalf of
the Europeans with the aim of reducing migrant departures by sea.
Relations between Libyan militias and Europe on the issue of migrants
are nothing new, but agreements have been reached in previous years.
These agreements are part of a "border externalization" plan that
exposes Europe's inadequacy in managing the relatively new phenomenon of
mass migration, recruiting countries like Libya that have never signed
the UN Refugee Convention.
Indeed, the case of the Italian government's failure to hand over Libyan
General Najeem Osama Almasri to the International Criminal Court is
emblematic. Accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity related to
cases of "cruel treatment, torture, rape, sexual violence, and murder,
committed in Mitiga prison," after being arrested by Italian police and
incarcerated in Turin, the Italian government released him and
repatriated him to Libya on a state plane. And to think that during a
press conference on March 11, 2023, in Cutro, where two weeks earlier a
ship loaded with migrants had sunk off the coast of the Ionian town (94
confirmed deaths were reported, and a number of missing persons were
never returned from the sea), Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni declared:
"We are accustomed to an Italy that is primarily concerned with
searching for migrants throughout the Mediterranean. What this
government wants to do is search for smugglers across the globe because
we want to break up this trade."
The business surrounding the migrant flow managed by Libyan armed
militias is deeply intertwined with human trafficking and systematic
exploitation. The total human trade in the Mediterranean is estimated at
billions of euros (about 6 billion euros in the Mediterranean alone in
2017), a significant portion of which is linked to the Libyan route.
Militias, often linked to state or autonomous armed forces, control
detention centers where migrants are held in extremely harsh conditions,
suffering torture, sexual violence, and forced labor. This system, which
has become an extremely lucrative business, is also exploited to gain
recognition and political advantage in negotiations with European
governments, which often make formal and informal agreements with these
factions to control and reduce sea departures.
The first agreement between Europe and Libya was in 2011 to collaborate
on security, stability, and migration. The fall of Gaddafi and the civil
war significantly accelerated the increase in the number of migrants and
asylum seekers crossing the Mediterranean, and the migration emergency
has become a crucial issue in Europe's relations with Libya.
Among the key agreements worth mentioning are the Italy-Libya Memorandum
of 2 February 2017 and the Malta Declaration of 3 February 2017. They
represent the operational heart of the European strategy to stem
migration flows through training, resources, and funding in exchange for
blocking departures and managing detention centers.
The Italy-Libya Memorandum of Understanding of February 2, 2017, was
signed in Rome by Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and the head of
the Libyan Government of National Accord, Fayez al-Sarraj. It stipulates
that Italy will provide logistical and technical support to Libya,
including providing naval vessels, equipment, technology, and training
to the Libyan Coast Guard for patrolling the Mediterranean, and
cooperating to strengthen control of Libya's southern borders through
support for transit and reception centers at entry points. Furthermore,
the agreement provides for the renovation and upgrading of existing
centers in Libya with Italian technical and financial support. Formally
designated as "temporary reception" centers, in practice they are often
identified as migrant detention centers, with documented serious human
rights violations.
Finally, the agreement provides for the involvement of the EU and UN
agencies (such as IOM and UNHCR) in the financing and management of
certain interventions, while Italy commits to mobilizing European and
Italian funds. The Memorandum is valid for three years, with automatic
renewal unless terminated by either party with three months' notice. It
was automatically renewed in 2020 and again in 2023.
The day after the Memorandum was signed, European leaders adopted the
Malta Declaration, aiming to "ensure effective control of our external
border and stem illegal flows towards the EU." Among the Declaration's
priority objectives: strengthening the Libyan coast guard, blocking
maritime routes, and improving repatriation mechanisms.
This is a further step forward toward the border externalization
program, which will be implemented thanks to significant funding,
including EUR1.8 billion from the EU Trust Fund for Africa, EUR152
million from Member State contributions, and EUR200 million for the most
urgent operations.
With these agreements, the European Union and Italy are abandoning their
duty to welcome people fleeing persecution and war, with a foreign
immigration policy based on agreements with dictatorial governments or
criminal actors (i.e., armed groups) who exploit migrants for personal
gain, trampling on the fundamental human rights of those who have chosen
to build a better life and who, to pursue this goal, have been forced to
abandon their country of origin.
The international actors
From an imperialist perspective, the interference of Turkey, Russia,
Europe, China, and the United States in Libya represents a competition
for strategic, military, and economic control of a key region for the
Mediterranean, Africa, and global energy routes.
Turkey supports the Tripoli-based government (GNU) through direct
military intervention, providing mercenaries and military equipment,
thus consolidating a foothold in the Eastern Mediterranean to increase
its political and economic influence. Its neo-imperialist agenda
includes control of disputed maritime zones and a key role in North Africa.
Russia, on the other hand, supports the eastern government in Tobruk,
led by Khalifa Haftar, by sending weapons, mercenaries (particularly
from the Wagner group), and political and economic support, aimed at
establishing a military base and influencing oil production and trade
routes. Russia's positioning is part of a strategy to increase its
global influence and contain Western influence.
Europe, fragmented but engaged, maintains official relations with
Tripoli, but moves pragmatically, also engaging with Cyrenaica and
seeking to manage the migration crisis and access to energy resources.
In reality, Europe suffers from a lack of a unified and incisive
project, often remaining subordinate to the dynamics of the stronger powers.
China is primarily involved with economic and infrastructure investments
aimed at building a strong economic presence, seeking to position itself
as a strategic partner to both the Tripoli and Tobruk governments,
albeit without direct military involvement. Its imperialism is
manifested in the Silk Road project and the acquisition of strategic,
mineral, and energy interests in Libya and Africa at large, aiming to
strengthen its position in the multipolar world system.
Finally, the United States maintains a strategic supervisory role aimed
at safeguarding its energy and security interests, limiting Russian and
Turkish expansion and attempting to stabilize the region through
selective support for political interlocutors, but without a massive
military commitment. Washington uses diplomacy, sanctions, and support
for international missions as tools of control.
The role of Italy
The Italian presence in Libya has deep roots dating back to 1911, when
Italy launched a campaign of colonial conquest of Tripolitania and
Cyrenaica, then provinces of the Ottoman Empire.
With the rise of fascism in 1922, Mussolini ordered an aggressive and
unrestrained "reconquest" of Libya. Italian generals, particularly
Rodolfo Graziani, unleashed a ferocious repression using
counterinsurgency tactics, mass deportations of civilians, concentration
camps, and extreme violence, including the use of gas and bombing of
Libyan populations.
After World War II, with Libya's independence in 1951, many Italians who
remained in the country were expelled or gradually left Libya,
especially after the rise of Gaddafi, who in 1970 ordered the expulsion
of most Italians and the confiscation of their property (valued in 1970
at more than 400 billion lire). However, the properties of FIAT and,
above all, ENI were spared from confiscation.
Under Idris's reign, collaboration between Italy and Libya focused on
the oil sector, leading to the construction of major facilities such as
refineries in Tripoli and industrial plants, and agreements that
guaranteed Italy increased oil supplies, paid for by investments in
Libyan infrastructure and industries. In 1959, the Compagnia Ricerca
Idrocarburi (CORI), controlled by Agip and Snam Progetti, obtained
concessions to begin extraction in the Cyrenaica region.
But it was with the 1973 oil crisis that Libya assumed a strategic role
for European countries, and in particular for Italy, in obtaining energy
sources.
During Gaddafi's rule, despite international political tensions, ENI
maintained stable relations with Libya, fostering operational agreements
between AGIP (the Italian oil company owned by ENI) and the Tripoli
government, as occurred in 1975. The collaboration was also part of a
broader Italian energy strategy aimed at the so-called "methane option,"
that is, the import of natural gas to diversify Italy's energy sources,
including the construction of gas pipelines and the export of Italian
technology. As reported in Giampaolo Cadalanu's book "Under the Sand":
"Meanwhile, Italy had embarked on an arms trade with Tripoli, which over
the years was to develop into the supply of entire arsenals-from
corvettes to transport aircraft, from armored vehicles to
surface-to-surface missiles, and even mines-with its national conscience
safeguarded by the clause requiring these weapons to have a defensive
function."
It's also worth mentioning here the brief interlude of Libya's stake in
FIAT: after lengthy secret negotiations, in 1976 the Libyan Arab Foreign
Investment Company, the Libyan Central Bank's foreign investment arm,
purchased a 9.7 percent stake in FIAT for $415 million. The stake in the
Turin-based company ended about ten years later, and Tripoli resold the
shares to FIAT at a healthy profit.
Energy cooperation between Italy and Libya in 2025 is characterized by a
significant strengthening of agreements and growing synergies,
especially in the oil, gas, and renewable energy sectors.
Italy remains Libya's main trading partner and largest importer of
hydrocarbons, with a strategic energy relationship reflected in major
agreements, such as the $8 billion deal between Eni and the Libyan
National Oil Corporation to increase oil production. However, Libyan oil
and gas exports have been negatively impacted by the country's political
instability, declining in recent years.
In the context of the global energy transition, there is a shared
interest in the development of renewable energy. Specifically, Italy is
supporting Libya in its Strategic Plan for Renewable Energy through
2025, with projects for solar and wind power generation and the
development of green technologies, also thanks to Eni's participation
and the Italian government's interest in economic and industrial
cooperation in this area.
Furthermore, diplomatic and commercial contacts have intensified in
2024-2025, including the signing of agreements at the Italy-Libya
Business Forum, which sees the participation of Italian companies such
as Confindustria, Saipem, Intesa Sanpaolo, and Unioncamere. The Mattei
Plan, promoted by the Italian government, aims to consolidate these
energy relations by enhancing Italy's role as a natural hub for energy
flows between Africa, the Mediterranean, and Europe.
Direct air travel between Italy and Libya will also be reinstated (with
ITA Airways starting in 2025), consolidating trade relations and
facilitating exchanges.
Libyan Refugee Camps: Institutionalized Immorality
On the Democratic Magistracy website "Questione Giustizia," the refugee
camps in Libya are described as "a concentration camp institution" that
includes the individuals whose distinctive traits Primo Levi so
thoroughly conveyed to us: the Kapos. These men, as in the past, are
capable of casually, daily, and repeatedly (as all the testimonies
attest) transmitting lofty concepts such as "I can kill whenever and
however I want, I can do whatever I want" or "I am not Somali, I am not
Muslim, I am your master," etc.
The main centers are located in Tripoli, Misrata, Khoms, Zliten, and
Dhar El-Jebel. A worryingly vast and varied range of diseases (primarily
tuberculosis) periodically decimates the camp populations. For at least
six years, Amnesty International and Doctors Without Borders have been
documenting the gravity of the situation, launching repeated, yet
unheeded, appeals.
Memorandum
The Italy-Libya Memorandum (the text of which was mentioned earlier) is
eight years old and can rightfully be described as a "tragic fiasco."
It's unnecessary to list the atrocities that have characterized it thus far.
In addition to the ignominious "Najeem Osama Almasri affair and the
return trip on a state plane" mentioned above, it is sufficient to
recall that top figures in the apparatus that forms the Libyan Coast
Guard, the repository of Italy's trust and celebrated ad nauseam, such
as the late Abd al-Rahman al-Milad, are considered by the UN to be
"criminals and human traffickers".
Finally, regarding numbers that are enough to keep many sectors of
society awake at night, it should be noted that, to date, between Libya
and Tunisia, approximately 60,000 migrants are stranded in currently
operating concentration camps. And given that the chosen route
(considered the "most dangerous in the world"), the stretch of the
Mediterranean that leads to the Bel Paese (not necessarily to settle in
the pleasant town of Caronno Pertusella), is heavily enriched by our
fellow human beings in the process of decay (as we write, we learn of
another 26 confirmed deaths and numerous others being ascertained, the
result of yet another shipwreck), it is natural to conclude that the
ambitious yet noble plan announced by our Prime Minister (to
relentlessly pursue human traffickers throughout the entire
continent...) has thus far failed to yield remarkable results.
As a corollary to such assertions, which once again seem obvious, and in
order to remind us of the degree of organic construction afforded by the
strength of the obstacles that arise, it is better to draw attention to
the paragraph here entitled "International Actors", where just enough is
clarified to understand how even in this "minor theatre" (the adjective
is appropriate, considering the grandiose bellicosity that unfolds
before our eyes) global and regional powers move and operate with the
usual rapacity and voracity that permeate the "spirit of the times".
Conclusion
Trying to draw any noteworthy conclusions is undeniably a difficult task.
One thing, however, is certain for us: we firmly reject the common
belief that Libya (and with it, in good company, Mauritania) is the only
area in the Maghreb completely devoid of our tradition (i.e.,
Anarchism). We refer you to the 2011 page (precisely dated 17-03-2011
and 24-11-2011; translated by the International Relations Office of the
FdCA) of Anarkismo.net, where you can find and appreciate a short text
entitled "The Signs of the Defeat of the Revolution in Libya," signed as
follows: Saoud Salem - Libyan Anarchist.
Simplicity, elegance and clarity worthy of a mathematical diagram are
its distinctive features.
The comrade who writes appeals to the people, "to all the peoples of the
world", and not to governments, "to any government".
It is truly unlikely that one would find a clearer, more intelligible
and luminous "path" than the one indicated by comrade Saoud Salem.
To the exploited Libyans, to the migrants detained there and to us with
them the duty to follow it.
Documentation:
https://www.ispionline.it/it/pubblicazione/libia-un-paese-ostaggio-di-elite-politiche-rivali-206588
https://ilmanifesto.it/la-crisi-libica-ha-tre-facce-politica-militare-ed-economica
https://www.infomercatiesteri.it/indicatori_macroeconomici.php?id_paesi=109#
https://www.ispionline.it/it/pubblicazione/libia-il-consolidamento-di-un-fragile-equilibrio-fondato-sul-clientelismo-124011
https://www.nigrizia.it/notizia/libia-conflitto-banca-centrale-petrolio
https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2024/12/17/libya-s-economic-outlook-pathways-to-sustainable-growth-and-increased-productivity
Giampaolo Cadalanu - Under the Sand - Laterza Publishers
Porsia Nancy - Libya Sickness: My Days on the Mediterranean Front -
Bompiani Munizioni
https://www.iai.it/sites/default/files/iai1516.pdf#:~:text=With%20the%20fall%20of%20Gheddafi%20regime%20and%20asylum-seekers%20who%20try%20to%20reach%20Europe
.
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/it/press/press-releases/2017/02/03/malta-declaration/
https://www.swissinfo.ch/ita/libia-video-cnn-mostra-aste-di-migranti/43675752
Del Boca Angelo - Italians, Good People? - Neri Pozza Editore
A-Infos (it)[Anarkismo.net Editorial]Signs of the Defeat of the
Revolution in Libya
https://alternativalibertaria.fdca.it/
_________________________________________
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