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The Libyan Civil Wars are a series of civil wars that have ravaged Libya in North Africa since the Arab Spring of 2011 destabilized the country, leading to the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. They are often collectively termed the Libya Crisis. The First Libyan Civil War was fought in 2011 to remove Gaddafi from power. It was followed by three years of factional wrangling and violence amongst the different groups vying for control of Libya following the fall of a dictatorship which had controlled the country for over four decades. This escalated into the Second Libyan Civil War in 2014, which in turn lasted down to 2020. This was extremely chaotic, with different groups in charge of different parts of the country, while a host of foreign countries and entities began supporting various factions. A ceasefire was eventually agreed to in 2020, but Libya remains a deeply divided country ever since. The Government of National Unity rules part of the country from Tripoli, while other claimants to power rule from Benghazi, Tobruk and other cities and towns. The conflict has led to mass displacement and contributed to the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean.[1]
Libyan Civil Wars chronology of eventsLibyan Civil Wars chronology of events
The Libyan Civil Wars or the Libya Crisis began in response to the long run of Muammar Gaddafi, a former army officer who rose to power in a coup in 1969. Over time his regime had become more and more tyrannical and unpopular.[2] This exploded into mass unrest against the regime in February 2011 after the Arab Spring had commenced in Tunisia in December 2010 and then spread across North Africa and the Middle East. By March 2011 a full scale civil war, now termed the First Libyan Civil War, was underway. It would end with the overthrow of the regime, the murder of Gaddafi in October 2011 and the establishment of a National Transition Council.[3]
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The end of the First Libyan Civil War ushered in a period of even greater instability in Libya. Various Islamic groups came into conflict with more secular movements, while within the military there were factions vying for power, notably the advocate of Madkhalism, Khalifa Haftar. The country existed in a state of borderline anarchy for the next three years, with incidents like the September 2012 attack on US government facilities in the city of Benghazi garnering international attention. Eventually this boiled over in 2014 into the Second Libyan Civil War. This was further complicated by the rise of ISIS in the Middle East and the intense Islamic jihadist sentiment of the mid-2010s. The war would last for six years. During it an internationally recognized government controlled parts of the east of the country around Tripoli. A rival government supported by other countries emerged in the east, while various Islamic groups and ethnic militias emerged to seize control of pockets of territory further south in the thinly populated Sahara Desert regions.[4]
The Second Libyan Civil War ostensibly came to an end in 2020 when a ceasefire was agreed to, but the Libya Crisis has continued down to the mid-2020s with the country plagued by factional struggles, regional conflict and general instability. There is a roadmap for transitioning to a more peaceful situation, yet it is not being followed and at present the country is divided into two major entities, one ruling the west of the country from Tripoli as the Government of National Accord, the other controlling the east of Libya from Tobruk. Peace seems a long way from being reached in Libya and the Civil Wars continue there.[5]
Extent of migration caused by the Libyan Civil WarsExtent of migration caused by the Libyan Civil Wars
An estimated 800,000 Libyans fled abroad during the initial stages of the crisis in 2011. The ongoing crisis has led to a situation in which millions of Libyans have been displaced and well in excess of a million have ended up outside of Libya’s borders. Although international headlines were generated by the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean, and the manner in which countries like Italy and Greece dealt with tens of thousands of Libyan refugees appearing on their borders, as with so many other modern refugee crises, the burden has actually fallen primarily on other developing countries. In this instance, Egypt and Chad to the east and south of Libya have experienced some influx of people into their countries. However, Tunisia has been the main recipient of Libyan refugees, particularly the initial exodus in 2011.[6]
Demographic impact of the Libyan Civil WarsDemographic impact of the Libyan Civil Wars
The demographic impact of the Libyan Civil Wars has been felt in Libya itself, its immediate neighbors in North Africa and in parts of Europe. In the immediate timeframe, Libya experienced a sharp population decline in 2011 and 2012 from around 6.5 million to close to 5.5 million people, before quickly recovering in the mid-2010s. In the long run this has not impacted on Libya’s population, which has returned to the pre-civil war levels and expanded further to an estimated 7.3 million people as of 2024.[7]
The demographic impact has abroad has been most substantial in Tunisia, where much of the migration took place too during the First Libyan Civil War in 2011. Over time this was reduced as some of the refugees involved returned home to Libya and many others transited onwards across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. The settlement in Europe has been dispersed, though most Libyan refugees originally arrived by boat to either Italy or Greece.[8] Over time European countries further north have taken in large numbers of Libyans migrants. For instance, thousands of Libyans migrants are living in Germany today. Thus, the migratory and demographic impact of the Libyan Civil Wars has been varied in different parts of North Africa and Europe.[9]
See alsoSee also
Explore more about the Libyan Civil WarsExplore more about the Libyan Civil Wars
- Death of a Dictator at Human Rights Watch
- Libya: Asylum Seekers, Refugees Need Crisis Response at Human Rights Watch
- Civil Conflict in Libya at Global Conflict Tracker
References
- ↑ https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/civil-war-libya
- ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12688033
- ↑ https://www.understandingwar.org/report/libyan-revolution-part-i-roots-rebellion
- ↑ https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/civil-war-libya
- ↑ https://www.dw.com/en/is-libya-on-the-brink-of-a-new-civil-war/a-69963648
- ↑ Katharine Natter, ‘Tunisia’s migration politics throughout the 2011 revolution: revisiting the democratisation–migrant rights nexus’, in Third World Quarterly, Vol. 43 (2022), pp. 1551–1569.
- ↑ https://data.who.int/countries/434
- ↑ https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/aussenpolitik/laenderinformationen/libyen-node/libya/232774
- ↑ https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/1234271/the-deal-rerouting-migrant-boats-from-libya-to-greece/