Living Conditions for Foreigners

Whenever I used to visit, I would always be surprised by how many foreigners I saw. I would see people with different skin than me or different hair color or eye shape. Even though this is totally normal in America, in Libya it is normally rare. Libyans are not the most hospitable to foreigners. When I told my mother that I befriended a Palestinian girl at my job, my mom’s nose literally went up in the air. While all Muslims will tell you to love your brethren, when the time comes, Libyans will always prefer their own kind. Except for when it comes to the people that they employ. Almost all of the jobs that do not have any pre-requisites, like a grocery store bagger or a fruit seller, are taken by foreigners. I would say about ninety percent of those workers are from Bangladesh or Egypt. I have noticed that Libyans, while they may seem like simple desert nomads, are extremely proud to the point of not wanting to take any job that is considered 'low-class' (direct quote from a relative). When Libyans do not take these jobs, people from other countries come in and take them. Also employers would rather pay an Egyptian three dinars an hour rather than a Libyan five for doing the same job. The problem with this is not only does the Egyptian get a much lower salary; their living conditions are so poor.

It is so terrible; I don't even know where to begin. You will often see a small house without a door that is supposed to be used as a shack or a storage room, but inside of it will be 3 to 6 mattresses laid on the floor for migrant workers to sleep on. They share a small bathroom with an inconsistent water supply and the house has no electricity. On top of this, the areas they live in are incredibly unsafe. Not only are there rabid dogs on every corner, there are people who like to take advantage of these workers. When my dad hired some workers to get our stuff from storage into our house, the workers did their work and then my dad drove them back to where he found them. Then, there was a group of suspicious looking men lurking around the area, so the workers all began to beg my dad to drive them up a little more up the road. They said that those groups of men constantly harass them, stealing the money that they made from the entire day. These workers are obviously undocumented, so they have no consistent salary and there is no one to ensure their pay. If they make one hundred dollars for a whole day's work, it can be stolen within a two minute uncomfortable exchange at a shady street corner.

We also had a maid for a short while work at the house to help my mom clean up some things. When she was waiting for her driver to take her home, the driver pulled up to the front of our house and asked for 'the dark-skinned one'. My uncle was confused so then the driver clarified, "the slave". I should also mention that this maid was Libyan. However, she was from southern Libya and had dark skin. So there is a conflict not only with Libyans and foreigners, but also Libyans from metropolitan areas (as metropolitan as a city in sub-Saharan Africa can get) with Libyans from less developed areas.

This complete lack of respect is everywhere. At the school where I work, everyone uses the phrase "Banlga" or "Bangladeshi" to refer to the janitors. They reduce an entire nationality and country's whole culture to a cleaning job. There is nothing wrong with a cleaning job, but there is something wrong with Libyans associating people from Bangladesh as nothing more than just someone who cleans up after them. I was having lunch with a friend one day at work. When I was throwing my trash away, my friend stops me and says, “Just leave it on the table, the Bangla will get it,” as if they had nothing better to do than to throw away my trash. Not would I be making him do more work, but I would also be acting as if it was a huge inconvenience for me to throw away a wrapper and a paper plate and that this act would be better suited for someone of Bangladeshi descent.

These photos of people in the back of cars started out as a joke. My sisters and I laughed at how many parents actually let their infant children stand in the back of pickup trucks on the freeway. Then, I eventually noticed that most of the people in the back of trucks were the workers. They are just thrown into the back like sheep, as if they don't even deserve to sit in the front. I'm not sure if the employers had a bunch of stuff in the actual sitting area of the car, but I'm pretty sure they could have squeezed if they wanted.

People in Libya have a problem with recognizing other people. They see race, color, nationality, and sex before they actually see a person with a personality, opinions, and ideas. Hopefully once the country starts become more stable, foreigners and migrant workers will finally be able to sit in the front with their employer. Hell, maybe they'll even be the ones driving. 

These are a bunch of children just enjoying the view.