The Bitter Harvest
Libya After the Liberation: The Wounded Are Everywhere
Children have not been spared the physical and emotional trauma of civil war in Libya
To read the article in the original Arabic, please click hereDuring the former regime, Libyans used to retell stories of soldiers who were physically wounded during the Chadian-Libyan conflict and who were not allowed to return to their families. It is said that those soldiers were disposed of in the sea, because the Qadhafi regime did not want the people to be reminded of the conflict.
The regime apparently feared that people would say “this man lost an arm in Wadi Doum” or “this person lost a leg on the Tibesti Mountains.”
But Libya has never seen worse death and destruction than that of the past eight months of civil war, and the silver lining in the bleak cloud is that this time the victims and their families will be helped.
Libya has sustained many thousands of victims, not only during this year’s civil war, but also during four consecutive decades of oppression. Casualties were endured at the 7 April massacres in the mid-seventies, as well as at the Abu Salim prison massacre in 1996—when over 1,200 prisoners were killed in a matter of hours, their graves unrecognized to this day. Add to that the Chadian-Libyan conflict and mass executions in the eighties, plus countless tyrannical practices during the period of international sanctions, and the number of victims is almost incalculable.
The former regime also had a major psychological impact on Libyans, particularly the youth. Their lives were subject to the imposition of Qadhafi’s arbitrary ideological agenda, which never permitted practices that ran counter to the ideas listed in the “Green Book.”
Estimates of the number of casualties in the 2011 revolution are inconsistent. Major General Abdel Moneim Alhuni—a former associate of Qadhafi, leading member of the 1969 coup, and currently a representative of the National Transition Council (NTC) in Cairo—stated that the number of deaths amounts to 35,000, in addition to tens of thousands of wounded. On the other hand Commander Bouhajar, leader of the youth forces which sprung from the Nafusa Mountains in the west of Libya and contributed in the taking of Tripoli, declared that the number of casualties amounts to 50,000.
The Chairman of the NTC, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, has stated that the number of deaths exceeds 20,000, while Libyan Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Mohammad Al-Naqua, estimates the number at about 40,000.
The number of wounded is now estimated at about 60,000, 3,000 of whom are now permanently disabled. In a population of less than 6 million, this number is clearly substantial.
However, the issue does not stop there. The war has caused extreme psychological damage to various social segments in Libya, especially children, which will take many years to heal. Not to mention that the eight months of war have taken a toll on every Libyan household—erasing the physical aftermath of war and rebuilding the country could cost as much as half a trillion US dollars, according to former interim Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril.
At Libya’s recent liberation ceremony, NTC Chairperson Mustafa Abdul Jalil announced the formation of a new ministry responsible for attending to the wounded and the families of the casualties. One billion US dollars has been set aside for the treatment of the wounded across Libya. This came as welcome news to those grieving over loved ones, those with serious physical injuries and those who have been psychologically affected by the civil war and its aftermath. The new ministry will also help political prisoners of the former regime, who will require support and rehabilitation.
Special Thanks to Tunisia
During the civil war many of the injured sought refuge and medical assistance in other countries. The highest portion of those wounded fled to Tunisia. Tunisia embraced nearly a million Libyans who fled Libya to escape from the fierce fighting and opened its hospitals and clinics to Libyans who were physically and emotionally affected.
Many Libyans have voiced their appreciation to Tunisia for its generous aid, including, Abdel Hafid Gouka, Deputy Chairman of the NTC. He expressed gratitude to Tunisia in a statement during his visit to the country last month: “If it were not for the generous aid provided by the Tunisian government and people and for their financial and moral support to the Libyan rebels, our revolution would have been long aborted.”
Gouka visited Tunisia while heading an NTC delegation, to assess the conditions and needs of the Libyan wounded, as well as to provide them with moral support. The deputy chairman was also tasked with assessing how to settle the huge costs of treatment, including treatment provided by private institutions, which exceed 18 million dollars.
Since the beginning of the Libyan Revolution, on 17 February, Tunisian hospitals and private institutions have admitted over 8,000 wounded Libyans, 22 hundred of which are still hospitalized in Tunisia.
Furthermore, Tunisia sent medical teams into Libya during the war to provide necessary medical aid to the wounded. It also supplied Libya with about 12 tons of medicine.
2200 Injured
A number of Libyan youth have formed a voluntary committee of their own to follow up on the conditions of the Libyans in Tunisia. The committee, which consists of 15 volunteers, mediates between the official bodies and the wounded and displaced.
One of the volunteers, Ayad Omar Al-Hariout, presented The Majalla with figures for the Libyan wounded in three major cities in Tunisia; Tunis, Sfax and Sousse. Al-Hariout declared that the figure amounts to about 1,450 in those three cities combined. He also stated that the complete figure in Tunisia would perhaps amount to about 2,200.
When asked about the severity of these patients’ conditions, Al-Hariout said that most range between serious and severe. He stated that some suffer from shrapnel injuries, causing multiple wounds to the face, the chest and the abdomen. A large number of patients were forced to have limbs amputated due to having no access to immediate medical aid while in the war zone. These patients have been discharged from hospitals and clinics to provide vacancies and they have been moved to institutions where they receive physiotherapy.
Al-Hariout explained, “There are wounded in every age group, from children, not older than two years of age, to elderly people. There are complications in the process of covering the medical expenses as the NTC has not yet reached a conclusion towards the best mechanism for payment.” Deputy Chairman Gouka has since ordered the payment of the outstanding costs to the respective clinics.
Prior to Gouka’s visit, Naji Barakat, the Health Advisor to the NTC, paid a four-day visit to Tunisia an struck a sour note. The Majalla met with a number of Libyans who were unimpressed by his visit—Barakat stayed in a five-star hotel and did not meet with any of the Libyan patients. A witness to the minister’s visit and his conduct told The Majalla: “This official acted the way ministers used to act during the Qadhafi regime. Are things going to stay the same without any change? I certainly hope not.”
A Distorted Childhood
Mohammad Al-Khazimi, chairman of the youth committee, is responsible for child patients. He hopes to accompany 20 Libyan children to the UK to receive medical care. He also extended a general call for help in order to save these wounded children before it is too late.
One of the cases The Majalla has observed is that of Saeda Mukhtar, a three-month-old from Tripoli. Mukhtar’s family lived in Kallat Forjan, near the headquarters of the Khamis Qadhafi Brigades. Mukhtar’s mother, whilst pregnant with Saeda, inhaled toxic vapors from chemicals used in the area during raids. The doctors discovered a cancerous tumor in the child’s liver shortly after she was born. Currently, Mukhtar is receiving medical treatment at Ibn Sina Hospital in Tunis.
Two-year-old Miral Al-Shanfari suffered first, second and third-degree burns all over her body. According to her parents, Miral received these burns during an air raid last August. The child was admitted to the burns unit at Tripoli Hospital, whilst the Qadhafi regime was still in control. However, her parents were not permitted to visit the child owing to the fact they came from Zintan City, a town in the West of Libya and a rebel stronghold. Following the fall of Tripoli, Miral was transferred to Tunisia due to severe lack of medical supplies. The child’s condition remains critical.
One of the most tragic cases is that of a five-year old who was accompanied to Tunis by members of the Hawamid Tribe of the Nafusa Mountains, near the Libyan-Tunisian border. The child’s name and family are unknown. She was found lying in the open after her eyes had been removed, by what, nobody knows.
These are three out of 20 cases that the committee is seeking to transfer to Europe to receive medical treatment.
The Majalla witnessed European medical teams from Germany and Austria working in the area. When asked about these teams, Al-Hariout said, “These medical teams came to provide help. The German team consists of specialists in orthopedic surgery. They identified 50 cases to be immediately transferred to Germany to receive medical treatment, of which expenses are covered by the German government.”
Al-Hariout added, “The Austrian medical team includes specialists. This team also identified 40 cases for immediate transfer who would also be receiving medical treatments fully covered by the Austrian authorities”.
When asked about the psychological welfare of the patients and the Tunisians’ attitudes towards them, Al-Hariout declared, “The Tunisians have treated the Libyans with great love and empathy and have opened their hearts to them”.
The Wounded Are Everywhere
Jordan
There are over 700 wounded Libyans receiving medical treatment in clinics and hospitals in the Jordanian capital, Amman.
Egypt
The total number of Libyan patients admitted to Egyptian hospitals amounts to about 500, divided amongst Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Dar Al-Shifa, Arab Contractors, Nasser Institution and Cairo Specialist Hospital.
Turkey
In Medical Park Hospital in turkey, 45 Libyans are currently receiving treatment for a critical injury. The total number of Libyan patients in this hospital amounts to about 100.
Switzerland
Swiss hospitals in Geneva and Lausanne are currently preparing to receive a number of Libyan patients following an agreement for medical aid between the Swiss authorities and the NTC.
USA
24 critically wounded fighters have been transferred to Spalding Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. Also, 6 more fighters were transferred to US Military bases in Germany.
Morocco
A Moroccan passenger aircraft carried Libyan patients, who originally were receiving treatments in Benghazi Central Hospital, Aljala Hospital and Alhawari Hospital, to the Kingdom of Morocco.
Kuwait
Kuwaiti Hospitals received about 25 Libyan patients in total.
Iran
Iranian hospitals received about 80 Libyan patients, divided amongst a number of hospitals and institutions in the capital, Tehran.
The Netherlands
Hospitals in Holland received about 50 patients from Libya following an appeal to the Dutch authorities by the National Transitional Council of Libya.
Algeria
8 Libyan patients were transferred to Algeria to receive medical treatment following conflicts in Ghadames in the Dabdab region, on the Algerian-Libyan borders.
UK
The United Kingdom is preparing to receive about 50 Libyan patients. During his recent visit to Libya, UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, offered to have these patients treated in the UK.
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[...] days later that it would officially end its Libya mission. According to official estimates, over 35,000 people are believed to have been killed since country’s civil war began.At the backdrop of [...]