Country: Libya

Group: Tuareg

Date Finalized: 3/31/21

Team: Natasha Chandra (lead), Colleen Clauss, Omer Carrillo, Tali Sulcas

There is substantial evidence that the Tuareg in Libya continue to suffer from forced displacement. The data quality is a 2 because of well-documented accounts of displacement of the Tuareg, although there are few peer-reviewed sources.

The Tuareg are nomadic, pastoralist tribes that currently reside in Libya but have resided in Algeria, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. They have a population ranging between 17,000 and 560,000. During a drought in Mali and Niger in the 1970s, some Tuaregs migrated to Libya. Then-ruler Muammar Al-Gadaffi incorporated some Tuareg people into the Libyan National Army in the 1980s. When civil war broke out in 2011, some Tuareg sided with Gaddafi and provided protection to Gaddafi’s family and close allies (Minority Rights Group 2018). Due to this, many Tuareg are marginalized and treated with suspicion after the fall of Gaddafi (Minority Rights Group 2018). Many Tuareg were victims of the conflict; the Society for Threatened Peoples reported that 500 Tuaregs from Ghadames sought refuge in Algeria in September 2011 (Minority Rights Group 2018). Currently, the Tuareg have been in conflict with the Tebu, trying to gain control over resources such as water, oil, gun trade, drugs, and migrants (Minority Rights Group 2018). In September 2014, clashes between the two groups led to the displacement of 18,500 people, most of whom included women, children, and the elderly (Minority Rights Group 2018). This conflict forced Tuaregs to leave their homes and move to other parts of Libya because homes, infrastructure and services were destroyed or heavily damaged (Minority Rights Group, 2018). In May 2017, the conditions of a ceasefire agreement continue to be implemented with the withdrawal of militias from both the Tuareg and Tebu (Minority Rights Group 2018).

Sources

  1. Minority Rights Group. (2018 July). Tuareg. Retrieved 20 March, 2021. https://minorityrights.org/minorities/tuareg-3/.