When the Burkinabe Brothers of the Small Jamahiriyya Make a Stop in Tripoli

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Sensitive to repeated calls from the ruler of the great Jamahirriya – the new champion of African Union –, over the past decade some people from Burkina Faso have not hesitated to set forth on the perilous trek across the desert territories of the Sahara. Some hoped especially to improve their living conditions by finding short-term but money-earning work in Tripoli or Sebha; other, more adventurous migrants planned to continue their journey towards Europe from this entry point. Still others, more recently, have fled from the Ivory Coast conflict, without taking the time to alter their migration plan, following in the footsteps of their well-informed compatriots. And while new diplomatic relations are being forged between Libya and the European countries, other migration strategies are emerging. Although the embargo has been lifted, M. Kadhafi’s government is accepting the role of “advanced guard” for the EU Schengen states primarily preoccupied with defending “fortress Europe”, contributing not only to the spread of the frequent confounding between illegal migratory status and criminality but also to the slide into extreme social insecurity of the migrants most recently arrived.