from Al Jazeera
Anti-Khadafi forces have already killed hundreds of sub-Saharan Blacks, supposed because Black “mercenaries” are fighting for Khadafi. About 1.5m Sub-Saharan African migrants work in Libya as low-paid laborers. Said one man from Mali, “"The most dangerous situation is for foreigners like us – and also us black people – because Gaddafi brought soldiers from Chad and Niger who reportedly killed Arabs."
“As victims of racism and ruthless exploitation, they are Libya's most vulnerable immigrant population.”
As nations evacuate their citizens from the violence gripping Libya, many African migrant workers are targeted because they are suspected of being mercenaries hired by Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader.
Dozens of workers from sub-Saharan Africa are feared killed, and hundreds are in hiding, as angry mobs of anti-government protesters hunt down "black African mercenaries," according to witnesses.
About 90 Kenyans and another 64 citizens from South Sudan, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Zambia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone and Burundi landed in Nairobi on Monday, according to officials.
"We were being attacked by local people who said that we were mercenaries killing people. Let me say that they did not want to see black people," Julius Kiluu, a 60-year-old building supervisor, told Reuters.
"Our camp was burnt down, and we were assisted by the Kenyan embassy and our company to get to the airport," he said.
“Dozens of workers from sub-Saharan Africa are feared killed, and hundreds are in hiding.”
Rights organizations say that thousands of workers are stranded in camps and private homes, protected by their colleagues as their governments fail to evacuate them from the chaos.
"But why is nobody concerned about the plight of sub-Saharan African migrants in Libya? As victims of racism and ruthless exploitation, they are Libya's most vulnerable immigrant population, and their home country governments do not give them any support," Hein de Haas, a senior fellow with the International Migration Institute, writes in his blog.
Al Jazeera’s Nazenine Moshiri met Seidou Boubaker Jallou, a Malian citizen, who said he fled Libya after many black migrants came under attack.
"The most dangerous situation is for foreigners like us – and also us black people – because Gaddafi brought soldiers from Chad and Niger who reportedly killed Arabs," he said.
Experts say that Gaddafi has had a long relationship with African fighters who now came to his assistance.
Low-paid laborers
Hundreds of black immigrants from poor African countries, who mainly work in Libya’s oil industry as cheap laborers, have also been injured in the violence. Some were unable to seek medical treatment for fear of being killed.
Saad Jabbar, deputy director of the North Africa Centre at Cambridge University, confirms Africans have become targets.
"I tell you, these people, because of their scheme, they will be slaughtered in Libya. There is so much anger there against those mercenaries, which suddenly sprung up," Jabbar said.
About 1.5m Sub-Saharan African migrants work in Libya as low-paid laborers in the oil industry, construction, agriculture and service sectors.
Rights organizations say some anti-Gaddafi protesters wrongly associate African workers with state-sponsored violence.
“A genocide is possible.”
"African immigrants are now linked to state-orchestrated violence and mass killings, and we may therefore fear the worst about the violent backlash that may follow particularly after Gaddafi is ousted," said Haas.
Ignored by their governments, African workers are one of the most vulnerable groups in Libya right now. Analysts say unless a preventative measure is taken, a massive bloodletting is feared.
"I think it is urgent to do something about it now, otherwise, a genocide against anyone who has black skin and who doesn't speak perfect Arabic is possible," said Jabbar.
Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris must be a wake up call to Black people. The Democratic Party is a dead end and a movement killer. Our survival depends on getting that corrupt wing of the…
“I believe that democracy has so far disappeared in the United States that no "two evils" exist. There is but one evil party with two names, and it will be elected despite all I can do or say.”
Bill Clinton couldn’t be cozier, or more richly rewarded, in what he calls “the dictator’s club.”
For more than five decades the Sahrawi people of Northeast Africa have been denied their rightful place in the international community.
In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book. This week’s featured authors are Nathan Kalman-Lamb and Derek Silva.
