ReliefWeb

Introduction

This article examines the experiences of two Middle Eastern refugee populations (Sahrawis and Palestinians) affected by the 2011 conflict in Libya. Both refugee communities and their political representatives (Polisario Front and Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) respectively) have received support from the Libyan government since the 1970s, including through the provision of scholarships to enable refugee children and youth to complete their studies in Libya.

Whilst unexamined by academics to date, thousands of students of both Sahrawi and Palestinian refugee backgrounds have studied in Libya throughout this period, with both groups equally having faced expulsion from the country when political relations between Gaddafi and the Polisario/PLO have been fraught. At the outbreak of the current conflict, it is estimated that over 900 Sahrawi children and youth, 100 Palestinian students, and up to 70,000 Palestinian migrant workers were based in Libya. Their presence in Libya, and both the challenges they have faced since February 2011 and the nature of international responses to these challenges, highlight a range of issues on both conceptual and practical dimensions.