Libya: migrant way station

For the Halim family, the sunken ship off the coast of Libya meant the loss of a loved one, the shattering of their world.

"He was just 17, and hadn't even had a job yet," says the cousin of drowned Egyptian migrant Ahmad Abdel Halim, over the telephone. "He was headed to Europe to find work and now look at his fate."

But for those familiar with the plight of migrants trying to make the crossing to Europe from north Africa, Tuesday's tragedy, in which more than 200 people are believed to have drowned, comes as no surprise.

"What happened is really nothing new in terms of movement from Africa to Europe," says the International Organization for Migration (IOM)'s Laurence Hart. "The only difference is that this time we have a major tragedy."

Hart, whose UN-affiliated group has been closely monitoring the accident's aftermath, says there was little hope of survival for the around 230 unaccounted-for passengers of the capsized boat. Earlier reports that a second boat had also sunk proved false, as Libyan and Italian coast guards were able to rescue it and the more than 350 passengers aboard. They and the 23 survivors from the sunken vessel receiving aid in Libya after their harrowing trip.

Waiting for the big day

On the streets of Tripoli, however, hundreds of thousands are waiting their turn to make the same journey. Music from all across Africa - Egypt, Mali, Somalia, Nigeria - is available for purchase. There's a market for all of it, because people from all these countries are there, saving up to make the passage to Europe.

Arrow, from Nigeria, says his uncle's sister is in Europe, and that she told him that there are lots of vacant jobs.

"For me, I really want to work," he says. "It's very difficult, to go from Morocco to Spain, and in Libya it's difficult too. People die, you know."

But Arrow says the risk is worth it. Not only because the promise of work in Europe is so special, but because "Libya is a place like hell."

It's estimated that as many as 2 million illegal migrants live in Libya, as much as a quarter of the country's total population.

Second thoughts

Some, like Masoud, have taken a haphazard route to this way station on the way to Europe. He's from Ghana, and passed through Niger, Burkina Faso, Togo, and Mali.

To get to Libya, he says, "I spent a lot of money - 300 dollars."

He says he's had second thoughts about making the trip across the sea to Europe. The boats are dangerous, and he's anxious to get back to Ghana to the 4-year-old son he hasn't seen for two years. He plans to go and see if there are aid groups who can help him resettle.

That's exactly the line of work the IOM is in.

"We've reached about 3,500 people with assistance, and we've reintegrated them into 22 different African and Asian countries," says Hart.

He says he considers the organization's results a success, but he also knows it's no substitute for a "durable solution" - one that improves conditions in migrants' home countries and removes the impulse to leave in the first place.

"So far we are managing to respond," Hart says. "But we are only responding to a limited number of caseloads."

Meanwhile, the rest of Tripoli's migrant community is likely to continue doing menial jobs in Tripoli, until they've saved enough money for a place onboard a crowded boat, bound for Europe.

Author: Esther Saoub/Matt Hermann

Editor: Susan Houlton