Enab Baladi – Cinderella al-Balaa
In a working-class neighborhood of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, Mahmoud al-Issa sits holding a Syrian passport that expired five years ago, feeling helpless. Since the outbreak of war in his country and his arrival in Libya, he has been stuck—like thousands of other Syrians—in a legal limbo, unable to renew his documents or obtain any official paperwork. He blames the absence of a Syrian consulate or embassy in Libya.
“Anyone who dares speak up about their ordeal ends up in Libyan prisons with an unknown fate,” Mahmoud told Enab Baladi.
On May 15, Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa directed the opening of an embassy and consulate in Libya to serve Syrian nationals and strengthen bilateral ties, as announced by Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani in a post on X .
The ministry confirmed it would send a field team ahead of a formal visit to the Libyan government to complete logistical and diplomatic arrangements.
The Syrian embassy in Tripoli had been closed in October 2011 after Libya’s National Transitional Council severed ties with the Assad regime and recognized the opposition Syrian National Council. Since then, no official diplomatic mission has represented Damascus in Libya.
As a result, Syrians have been left without consular services such as passport renewals, or the ability to register births, deaths, marriages, or divorces.
Individual Efforts, Unofficial Solutions
Some Syrians travel to neighboring countries such as Tunisia or Egypt to obtain civil documents. These journeys are expensive and risky, given Libya’s unstable security conditions and the additional entry requirements those countries impose.
Others turn to intermediaries and unofficial channels, often falling prey to scams, fraud, or extortion—paying high fees for services that might never be delivered.
This situation leaves the Syrian community in Libya facing immense challenges: no legal documents, no official protection, and the constant threat of arbitrary arrest and inhumane detention conditions.
In the absence of an active Syrian consulate or any official body to advocate on their behalf, most Syrians are left suspended between fear of arrest, risk of deportation, and exploitation.
Daily Life Without Documents
According to unofficial estimates by local aid organizations, between 30,000 and 50,000 Syrians currently reside in Libya, most of whom arrived after the 2011 uprising.
“I can’t travel. I can’t renew my residency. My children have no ID documents, so I can’t enroll them in school. We’re stuck here,” said Mahmoud.
He described multiple attempts to reach out to Syrian authorities after the regime’s fall, out of fear of being detained. He called for the urgent establishment of at least a temporary consular office or mobile consular team, one that could also work with international agencies to resolve the issue of detained Syrians and uphold their rights.
Meanwhile, Dirar Mohammad, a young Syrian migrant in Libya, echoed those demands and highlighted the added burden of high taxes imposed on Syrians.
He criticized the practice of charging Syrians steep fees simply for the right to return to the country they were forced to flee, calling it an illogical and unjust policy that only adds to their financial hardship.
Detainee File: A New Layer of Suffering
Many members of the Syrian diaspora in Libya face detention and imprisonment without legal representation or consular assistance.
“Um Khaled,” a Syrian woman, told Enab Baladi that her son has been imprisoned in Libya for over two months, with no information about his whereabouts or condition, and no official entity following up on his case.
Estimates suggest that 200 to 800 Syrians are currently detained in Libya, including minors. Families report their relatives face financial extortion and poor treatment in unofficial detention centers.
There are no publicly available official statistics, nor any clear steps by the Syrian Foreign Ministry to liaise with Libyan authorities or international organizations to resolve the crisis.
Families of the detainees continue to call for transparency about the fate of their loved ones, and demand a mechanism for issuing identity documents and ensuring consular protection.
Many community members also report random arrests, mostly targeting young men.
On April 16, a group of Syrian families staged a protest in Damascus, demanding information on the fate of their sons in Libyan prisons. They expressed frustration over being exploited by intermediaries who promise updates for large sums of money—without delivering any answers.
Violations Against Syrians
Migrants and asylum seekers in Libya, including Syrians, face severe violations that endanger their lives, often at the hands of groups affiliated with Libyan authorities. These include violent apprehensions and detentions in inhumane conditions.
Due to the lack of safe and legal migration pathways, many Syrians fall into the hands of smuggling and exploitation networks. Despite international laws meant to protect them, the EU continues to support the Libyan coast guard in intercepting and forcibly returning migrants.
Meanwhile, their home country governments—including Syria—have taken few concrete steps to protect them, according to a report by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor.
Despite repeated requests to the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates for clarification on any plans to open a consulate or address the plight of detainees, Enab Baladi received no response as of this report’s publication.
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