ABSTRACT
The chaos in Libya fostered often deadly human trafficking. Already meagre efforts at interdicting truckloads of migrants crossing the country’s borders faltered, leaving thousands to board rickety boats to make the perilous journey across the Mediterranean. The roots of Libya’s current troubles stretch back to early in the uprising. Tensions seethed between military officials and technocrats who had defected from Gadhafi to join the revolution, and Islamists and outsiders who were fighting against a dictatorship that had barred them from participating in politics and civil society. The results of the 2012 elections for the General National Congress shocked Libya’s Islamists. Libya’s conflict has become more than ideological; it is also about the interest and relative power of different groups – and a fear of losing that power. Victims of Libya’s conflict include many who were on the front lines of the revolution and have sought to compromise peacefully in its aftermath.
