MIGRANTS IN THE CITY OF TRIPOLI, LIBYA* ROBERT S. HARRISON r 1HE chief feature of the pattern of internal migration in western Libya' is urbanward movement-more precisely, movement to the city of Tripoli, the largest center in the country and the only urban area in the region (Fig. 1). Rural-urban migration is not new in North Africa, but it has been accentuated in the twentieth century as a result of economic expansion in the coastal cities. Traditionally, the northern coastlands have exerted the greatest attraction on Libyan migrants. Motives behind migration have most commonly been economic, and it is in the north that employment opportu- nities have been most numerous because of its natural advantages for agricul- ture (as in the Tunisian tell and, to a smaller extent, the eastern Jebel of Tripo- litania), mineral exploitation (in the phosphate mining regions of central Tunisia and today in the Libyan oil fields south of the Gulf of Sirte), and urbanization. Although the general flow of Libyan migrants remains northerly, the areal pattern has changed greatly in the last half-century. During the Turkish period migration was associated with French agricultural and urban develop- ments in Tunisia and with long-established seasonal movements inside Libya; during the Italian regime migration to Tunisia declined as Tripoli grew in importance; and today the "oil boom" has further stimulated economic ac- tivity in the city and strengthened the urbanward flow. From 1843 to 1911 the whole of western Libya was nominally united in the Ottoman vilayet of Tripoli, but Turkish authority was weak, movement was not controlled, and little of the frontier was delimited.2 Until the establishment of the French Protectorate in Tunisia Libyans migrating there were moving within Otto- man territory, and even until the Italian occupation of Tripolitania Libyans migrated freely into Tunisia, automatically becoming subjects of the regency * This paper is based on some of the findings of a program of research carried out in Libya in 1963- 1964. The writer wishes to express his gratitude to the many organizations and individuals in Tripoli who offered their assistance. I That is, the former provinces of Tripolitania and the Fezzan. In 1963 the federal form of govern- ment was abandoned in favor of a unitary system. 2 "So ignorant were the Turks of their own African dominion that at the outbreak of the war [1911], when the Sultan asked for a map, there was not one to be found" (Charles Lapworth, in collaboration with Helen Zimmern: Tripoli and Young Italy [London, 1912], p. 161). > DR. HARRISON is assistant professor in the Department of Geology and Geography at C. W. Post College, Long Island University, Greenvale, New York.
398 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW -I u, 12: ; I 1 4' ;''''''I'- 10 2 1.4 ~ WESTERN LIBYA 50 0 100 Miles ~~ OAST 0 ~~~~~~ 50 100 150 Kilometers IWESTIJOA ZONE zzazie TUNISIA 16o. TUNISIA * ~JEFARA PLAIN Misurata1 320> *~~~I...sBirGhenem ? .3 Jefren * 'EAST COAST ZONE.- Gi /ado PRE-DESERT ZONE t
Each symbol represents DISTRIBUTION OF MIGRANTS one migrant FRO M THE .-CENTRAL AND EASTERN JEBEL BIRTHPLACE 0 1000 2000 3000 Feet o-Garian *-Tarhuna ~~~~~~~~~0 200 400 600 800 Meters .- Kusabat/ in- Marconi MEDITERRANEAN HARBOR FESCLUM..... . -BAB E t0 ...... ..TA HUN .......... ~ ~ 0 CEMETER Ha-)T~~tammukelGa m S. Sidi 0 ~~~~~~ ..BAB.... Bumnge GoDAFRRNAS Nr .........ASSN.' ~. ~E5 Ba Be Gasir .... * ColinaVere....e ********* .. . SIDI-.. FESCLUM? *@Gurgi ~ ' 3333 */e@~.3~GEOGR.RE. ...Y.... FIG ...... 7A ' BITHPAE 0 002000Fe GARG ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ARO ORAILWAY AREA e0 ~~~~~~BA AITARHUAJ AiZr BabBenrnengeCllia VrdFoRNASC BAB" BA BABBEN~~~~~~~~~~~S ESI0090 ***X *00x~~*Gurgi ~ ' bidonville SDI MER/ /0 EO0G R. R E V., JU L Y .1%96 FIG. 8
Each symbol represents DISTRIBUTION OF MIGRANTS one migrant FROM THE EAST COAST ZONE BIRTHPLACE 0 1000 2000 30p0 Feet o- Homs #-Misurata 0 200 400 600 800 Meters *- Zliten *- Tauorga MEDITERRANEAN HARBOR SEA ,t +/ t'+= = \ _ ?CASTAL zII ->9 aF / Ba\biBJerl iGlsciara Sciara ........... BAB EL CEMETER eS e ammar . . . .. . . . . . . . Each~~~ ~~ TAblrpeet DSRBTO FM GURANT one migrant FROM HEWESTOLU ZO BIRTHPLACE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~0 100 003AB Fe RAILVWAY AREA IB AK INA ~~ * 0 ~ a xFescIu Skel- S.Bumengel -~jjIG. 10 BAB VK.~ Buene 0 FORNASe BAB"- B ABB1 GARG"ARECAZGSI G9gaes * I*HASGASHIR G'I RA"~T cc 0000... 00\7=X ege,,1T 000000000000\x DOOOOOO * BAB AIN ZARA Bab Ben ~ *0 3 Collina Verde oo-*Gurg Bab Benv Gash ******c 0SD- ER Fornaci 0040 Grgi '~idonviIes ~*****.4 3 GEOGR.REV.,JULY,1967 FsG. 9 Each symbol represents DISTRIBUTION OF MIGRANTS one migrant FROM THE WEST COAST ZONE BIRTHPLACE 0 1000 2000 3000 Feet *-Zavia 0- Agelat n3-Zuara n- Sorman 0 200 400 600 800 Meters *-Other places in the region MEDITERRANEAN HARBOR CASTLE~~~~~~ I CEMETER ~~~~~cirOaLSir FES.LU BAB ELI OLD-U ~ ~ 4t ecmbr ave AMRUNA Sc. Srim .*.. iaddat ...siu 'CEMETERY ............ a A ~~~~~~~~~~BAB Bu /.\?'J2~~~~~ANAC:-:.....RFECSU - '~~~~~~~~ "ei?~~~~~~~~~~ BA NARA ~0 Gurgi ~ ' bi donvalles ZPghet-: Fe SD-MER CHn Ved S. Sidi BAB~FsG 1
DISTRIBUTION OF MIGRANTS FROM THE REGION OF ORIGIN PRE-DESERT AND DESERT ZONES *-The Desert Zone 0 1000 2000 3000 Feet o- The Pre-Desert Zone 90 200 400 600 800 Meters Each symbol represents MEDITERRANEAN one migrantSE HARBOR .IT 1 ' 4t Sciara Sciara .. ... BAB EL 24hDecember Zaviet A RS~ CEMETERY. G~~~~~~~iaddat Dahmani nB~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~T ScIG.f 117 . . ......... ROYAL _ JaalFMEOTHER R EGIOPALAC SCLUM (Libyan nationality / /~ c.~ / 7 / Ct birth) /5I,-G\ MEDITERRCEMANIma 0 SSid, i\\i '~~~~~~~~~~BAB Ghyorres ARGARESC AI ZIA BTABA BAB>'~ ~ X1 BA B3\gSL ScSara RcarS_ 4' --Z-= 0~~~~~~~~e Hmm T 0 '-Ga,r9are B aRA_b Ben __ Gashir 0 Ver Gurgi \ b idonvilles .ga o > o oSs \\nic /Ai SIDI EG.E,UYle FIG. 12 REGONOFORgIN DISRIBTIOO MIRNANSC CoB Ast EatofTipl 0A 100200300Fe GAG* SidC 0 0 6080Mtr 0 Foreign states~~~~~~~ oo (Lba Bnto ality G i olia ed REGION OF ORGINDISTRMEDITERNEANMGRNT Eac symbol represents at birt CEMTERYPALCEDIT ESCLUMA RAILWAYblAereAsents HABO SE ARUNA * Sc.Srimk~~~~~ 0* * ~~~ FesSiaramciar CEMETERY .,i.! ...... ;c ma m IA BAB GASHIR-~~~~~~~~....RAS.. B .. .... c,e ... aVere....aciAin ar \X Ba Be GahA F II ESCLU x. Gurgi bidoALWAY ........OT R .REVIN Llee S. Sidi BAB~FsG 1
MIGRANTS IN TRIPOLI 415 The bidonvilles of Tripoli (Fig. 5) are not, as has been suggested,39 a completely modem phenomenon; it might even be said that their forebears were the encampments made by seminomads who used to move seasonally to Tripoli and "pitch their camps under the walls of the city."40 In the late nineteenth century there were settlements around Tripoli where Negroes lived in "huttes de branchages ou de sparte" and "campements d'Arabes, avec leurs tentes basses et rondes." 4 The Negro camps were still in existence in 190242 outside the wall of the Old City, and it is likely that their inhabitants included a large number of former slaves from the Fezzan. The problem of a large in-migrant population seems to have faced the Turkish authorities, much as it faces the Municipality of Tripoli today; for example, a kind of poor camp (where whipping was apparently necessary to maintain order!) was established by the Turks near Bab Ben Gashir.43 Andcjust after the Italian occupation of Tripoli Lapworth attacked the Turks for having allowed the growth of encampments of "poor Bedouins, Arabs, and Fezzans-a heap of huts composed of sticks, palm-leaves, and all the dirty rags and refuse of the city" ;44 if he thought that shantytowns would disappear with the Ottoman regime, he would be sadly disillusioned today. It was in the Italian period, however, that the present pattern of bidon- ville development was begun. A striking feature of the areal distribution of the shantytowns is their arrangement in a semicircle about 11 2-21 2miles out from the city center; in fact, they have attained their most extensive de- velopment just outside the Italian wall, and, more exactly, at the points marking the old gates in the wall-Bab Gargaresc, Bab Azizia, Bab Accara, Bab Ben Gashir (Porta Benito), Bab Fornasc, and Bab Tagiura. Thus as the modern city grew, circumscribed by the line of fortifications, the old en- campments under the wall of the Old City were in effect pushed outward to new positions under the Italian wall. At first growth outside the defended wall was probably largely haphazard, and bidonville development presumably got out of hand, because in 193 5 the Italians constructed a "campo dei beduini" in the east outside Bab Tagiura, to which "were transferred all the beduin who had been living in filthy 39 Luigi Maria Bologna: Report to the Government of Libya on Settlement Planning. F.A.0. Rept. No. 732, Rome, 1957, p. 9. 40 Tully, op. cit. [see footnote S above], p. 46. 41 M. Fournel: La Tripolitaine (Paris, 1887), pp. 15 and 83. 42 F. Minutilli: La Tripolitania (Turin, 1902), pp. 167-168. 43 E. Corradini: L'ora di Tripoli (Milan, 1911), pp. 68 and 70. 44 Lapworth, op. cit. [see footnote 2 above], p. 126.
416 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW tents on the outskirts of the city."45 This camp, with its five hundred stone huts, still remains, and conditions there were described as fairly satisfactory in 1952,46 though shanties have been built within it. Despite this effort on the part of the Italians to control bidonville expansion, the Bab Tagiura camp was only a temporary palliative. Another stage in the history of the Tripoli bidonvilles was the establish- ment of "family camps" at Bab Gargaresc, Bab Azizia, Bab Accara, and Bab Ben Gashir for Libyans serving with the Italian colonial militia or employed by the Italian Army. These camps remained after World War II,47 but they were used by anybody who could not find a home, and with the heavy postwar in-migration they grew into bidonvilles. During the serious drought of 1946-1948 the British Military Administration was forced to establish a new "poor camp" at Fesclum, through which thousands of destitute mi- grants passed.48 The largest shantytowns are still around the Italian wall or its ruins, particularly at Bab Ben Gashir and Bab Accara. But the bidonvilles are not a static feature of the urban geography of Tripoli: the shacks are only temporary buildings, easily pulled down and moved to another site, and other factors have made the shantytown an ephemeral phenomenon. In the outward shifting of the old encampments made necessary by the physical ex- pansion of the city the "official" Italian camps acted as centers of develop- ment. After the war the shantytowns grew without hindrance, but in recent years there has been some slum clearance as a result of official legislation on housing. In 1952 work was started on a housing project south of Bab Accara, and in 1954 part of the bidonville at Bab Gargaresc was demolished and its inhabitants rehoused in the new settlement. Since then the Bab Azizia bidonville has disappeared, and some of those displaced by its clearance have been moved into the government low-cost housing project at Bab Ben Gashir. But these housing projects do not provide sufficient accommoda- tion, and bidonvilles have merely "migrated." This happened as recently as 1963-1964, when a new shantytown appeared between the 1952 housing project and the old Bab Accara camp. Owing to official action and the increasing numbers of in-migrants, the 45 L. V. Bertarelli: Libia (Guida d'Italia della Consociazione Turistica Italiana, Vol. 23; Milan, 1937), p. 132. 46 Benjamin Higgins: The Economic and Social Development of Libya (United Nations Technical Assistance Programme; New York, 1953), p. 78. 47 Ann. Rept. on the British Military Administration of Tripolitania, 1943, Tripoli, 1944, p. 42. 48 Sunday Ghibli, July 8, 1947, and May 23, 1948.
MIGRANTS IN TRIPOLI 417 bidonvilles are constantly expanding and changing shape, especially in the Bab Ben Gashir-Bab Accara complex. But another, natural, factor has also played a part. The shantytowns on the southern fringe of Tripoli lie in the bed of the Wadi Megenin, which rises in the Jebel and reaches the sea at Bab Gargaresc. When in exceptionally rainy winters the wadi floods, a spate of turbulent, muddy water washes away many of the flimsy shacks; sometimes lives are lost, as in 1945,49 in 1952,50 and, most recently, inJanuary, 1964. But the destruction caused by the floods is only temporary, and new huts soon spring up to replace those swept away. It is noteworthy, however, that the latest bidonville carefully avoids the bed of the wadi. Although the extramural pattern of bidonvilles is still apparent, the shantytown areas of Bab Ben Gashir and Bab Accara have extended south- ward from the defended wall to and beyond the ring road. At the same time, the bidonvilles on the western outskirts of the city have almost disappeared. But there are numerous small shanty areas within the Italian wall, mainly in an inner belt from the Dahra in the east, through Goz Azuz and the Zenghet el-Hamman-Sciara Bu Harida district, to the old railway area (the site of the former Central Station and marshaling yards of the Italian-built system) and the environs of the Jewish cemetery southwest of the Old City. There is also much sporadic bidonville development in the Sciara Srim-Sciara Bu Harida-Zenghet el-Hamman area, where shanties have been built among ordinary houses; these might be called "shantied" zones. In 1960 the munic- ipality prohibited the building of shacks inside the city, and all huts were to be removed from the Giaddat Omar el-Muktar, the Dahra, Bab Gedid (the "New Gate" on the southwest of the Old City), Bab Gargaresc, Bab Azizia, and Sciara Srim.5' Some of these sections were cleared, but hundreds of shanties remain in the inner belt. Indeed, the windows of Tripoli's newest and most luxurious hotel look down on a group of cardboard and tin-can shacks, and within a stone's throw of the expensive new villas on Sciara Ben Asciur lie the pathetic shanties of Goz Azuz. However, as modern construc- tion proceeds the inner bidonvilles are gradually being reduced, especially in the northeast area. Most of the inhabitants of the bidonvilles are believed to be in-migrants or of in-migrant origin, and a comparison of Figures 5 and 6 makes clear the relationship between the shanty areas and the abodes of migrants. The popu- 49 Ann. Rept. on the British Military Administration of Tripolitania, 1945, Tripoli, 1946, p. 7. 50 Sunnday Ghibli, Sept. 28, 1952, and Dec. 7, 1952. 5I Ibid., Aug. 28, 1960.
418 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW lation of the bidonvilles has never been accurately determined, but in 1952 an estimate of 8ooo-io,ooo was made for those outside the Italian wall.52 According to the 1954 census of Libya, 5993 families were living in shanties in Tripoli;s on the basis of the average size of household in the city in 1954 (4.275 persons) this would mean a shanty population of about 25,620. How- ever, the figure is to be regarded as minimal, since it is not known whether all the shanties of the city were included or only those of the larger bidon- villes. Moreover, the size of household was probably larger among the citizen population than among the total population (to which the average figure refers), and even larger among the bidonville population. The pre- liminary results of the 1964 census show that there was a population of 25,820 in the euphemistically named "Municipal Villages."54 The areas covered by this term are not indicated, but it is certain that the inner shanties were not included. In any case, census enumeration under bidonville con- ditions is likely to be highly inaccurate. In 1964 a private Tripoli source estimated the bidonville population to be about 40,000, but it is probably greater than this. Figure 5 is based on the 1961 G.S.G.S. plan of Tripoli and personal observations made in 1963-1964. From the plotted data it can be calculated that the area covered by bidonvilles in 1964 was about 161 acres (the Bab Ben Gashir bidonvilles amounted to about 44 acres, and the largest single shantytown was the one south of the old Bab Accara camp, with an area of about 27 acres. From a study of air photographs and helicopter photographs taken in 1964, the number of shanties in various sections of the large bidonvilles and in some of the inner- belt shanty areas was counted; then, by applying the figure of 4.275 persons per household to the number of shanties, an approximate population total was calculated. The density of settlement varied from camp to camp, being higher in the inner belt, for example, than in the outer bidonvilles. Since not enough air photographs were available for full coverage, a "high den- sity" figure and a "low density" figure were worked out for the total popula- tion of the shantytowns, 71,6oo and 32,600 respectively; the average gave a possible total of about 52,100. The problem of overcrowding is indicated by the high population density this would imply for the bidonvilles-324 persons per acre. In comparison with the other bidonvilles, conditions in the 1952 housing project and the Bab Tagiura camp are fairly satisfactory. They have water 52 Higgins, loc. cit. [see footnote 46 above]. 53 General Population Census of Libya, 1954 [see footnote 34 above], Table 3, p. 54. 54 Preliminary Results of the General Population Census, 1964 (i0c. cit. [see footnote 34 above]).
MIGRANTS IN TRIPOLI 419 tl I W FIG. 13 Bidonville adjacent to the new housing project, south of the ring road (background), showing typical haphazard development. * 4I ,*SZR;~~~~~~~~~ w~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.1 FIG. 1i4-Detail of a bidonville. Building materials are flattened gasoline cans, pieces of wood, scrap metal, cardboard, and anything else that comes to hand.
420 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW and some sanitation facilities, shops, schools, and mosques, but even in the housing project the inhabitants have begun to build lean-to shanties. Living conditions in all the other shantytowns are very poor. Invariably the shanties are crudely built with petrol cans, pieces of corrugated iron and scrap, card- board, and odd pieces of wood, and although in places attempts have been made to improve them with whitewash, the general appearance of the bidon- villes (Figs. 13 and 14) indicates a terrible poverty. There is no lighting. Sani- tation is inadequate, and there is no good water supply; health standards are low, and occasionally disease sweeps through the shantytowns. In 1944 typhus was found to be common in the bidonvilles,55 and since the war there have been several smallpox epidemics; more recently the incidence of tuber- culosis has been related to the overcrowding.56 In the Old City too, in the maze of narrow alleys and old Turkish or Arab houses so attractive to the tourist, there are problems of poor housing and lack of facilities. In 1964 the population of the Old City numbered 22,820,57 with a density of 217 persons per acre. However, although overcrowding would become a problem in the Old City in any case, in the bidonvilles it has occasionally reached the point at which the authorities have been forced to return migrants to their home regions."8 There are other social problems associated with in-migration. Movement to the city can be successful-economically, socially, and psychologically. There are migrants who have found good jobs and are happy living in Tripoli. But there are others who do not easily adjust to urban life and return home as soon as possible. And there are still others who cannot find good jobs yet remain in Tripoli, unemployed or only occasionally employed, a source of concern to the local authorities. The severing of family and community ties partly explains the social disorganization. Many young migrants in Tripoli retain close connections with their homes and parents, but at the same time some reaction exists among the younger generation against all forms of traditionalism. The de- cline of tribal organization is perhaps more significant than the weakening of family bonds: the migrant in Tripoli feels free of the responsibility toward the tribe that forms part of the "old-fashioned" way of life in Libya. In the bidonvilles and the new housing settlements sheikhs have been appointed in 55 Ann. Rept. on the British Military Admintistration of Tripolitania, 1943 (hoc. cit. [see footnote 47 above]). 56 "The Economic Development of Libya" [see footnote 14 above], p. 277. 57 Preliminary Results of the General Population Census, 1964 (hoc. cit. [see footnote 34 above]). 58 Snntiday Ghibli, July 17, 1960; "The Economic Development of Libya" [see footnote 14 above], p. 293.
MIGRANTS IN TRIPOLI 421 an effort to maintain some sort of social cohesion, but there is little respect for their authority. Economic considerations also have a bearing on such problems of morale. Many in-migrants underestimate the difficulties of obtaining ur- ban employment, and the frustration of finding that the streets of Tripoli are not paved with oil-company gold may be as socially disturbing a factor as the breaking of tribal bonds. Social disorganization and poverty among the migrants have given rise to crime, juvenile delinquency, and vagrancy. The British Military Administra- tion in 1947 related the increase in criminal acts to increased migration to the city,59 and conditions in the bidonvilles are particularly conducive to crime, vice, delinquency, and, perhaps, political fanaticism. "Inter-family quarrels and fights are frequent. Most of the occupants have come from outside Tripoli, and . . . camps seem to attract the most undesirable characters who drift into the city, including the potential juvenile delinquent. The almost complete absence of lighting at night aggravates the problem and adds to the difficulties of the police to whom the camps are a source of concern."'0 Other problems have been the spread of prostitution6' and the practice of sending young children to beg in the streets of the city. MIGRATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT In the past, rural out-migration was often regarded as a useful means of supplementing low and uncertain agricultural incomes, but nowadays migra- tion is becoming longer-term or permanent and is resulting in serious labor losses in the regions of origin. Traveling through the desert oases, for in- stance, one is immediately impressed by the large proportion of their popu- lations made up of old people and young children, and by the lack of younger men. All the agricultural areas are experiencing a shortage of labor, but it is especially acute in areas that depend on irrigation, where the traditional methods of drawing water and preparing the land require a great amount of manual labor. To take an example from the Fezzan, the number of workers in the date palmeries decreased from about io,ooo in 1936 to only about 2000 in 1960.62 The loss of labor in the rural areas, and the reduced efficiency of the remaining labor force, have resulted in a reduction in the cultivated area. Ac- cording to Italian statistics, there were 2,657,000 hectares under all types of 59"Handbook on Tripolitania" [see footnote 19 above], pp. 53-54. 60 Higgins, op. cit. [see footnote 46 above], p. 78. 6I Ann. Rept. oni the British Military Administration of Tripolitania, 1943 (toc. cit. [see footnote 47 above]). 62 V. W. H. Dowson: Report to the Government of Libya on Date Production, F.A.O. Expanded Technical Assistance Program Rept. No. 1263, Rome, 1961, p. 14.
422 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW cultivation in Tripolitania in 1925 ;63 according to the 1960 agricultural cen- sus,64 there were only 1,724,246 hectares under arable and permanent crops (including fallow land). In the oases the extent of the cultivated area is pri- marily a function of the amount of water available. Where irrigation is from nonartesian wells, the cultivated area depends on the amount of water raised by the djebbad; with the migration of many of these workers many wells have been abandoned, and the irrigated area has been greatly reduced. In the Fez- zan, according to a 1953 estimate, the total productive land amounted to 125,000 hectares, of which 1 5,000 were in use,65 but in 1960 there were only 37,224 hectares under all types of land use.66 Except to the small extent that modern techniques have helped maintain efficiency, it may be assumed that the decrease in cultivated area has led to a decrease in agricultural production, though this cannot be easily substantiated from available statistics. Generally, it can be concluded that migration is resulting in a loss of productive capacity in the rural areas. The economic problems connected with migration to the city arise from the fact that more workers are trying to find employment than the nonagri- cultural sector can absorb. This has resulted in both actual and potential prob- lems of unemployment and underemployment. There is little recorded un- employment in Tripoli, but the number of nonregistered unemployed work- ers is probably much greater than the official figure. Throughout 1958 the number of registered unemployed remained fairly constant at about 15oo- 2000.67 A trade-union estimate of 1o,ooo unemployed in 1953 is most likely an exaggeration, but recorded unemployment in the city after the war oc- casionally reached more than 7000.69 If in-migration continues, the danger of serious unemployment will increase. Underemployment in Tripoli is already a handicap to economic growth, and according to the report of the International Bank Mission the belief that widespread unemployment exists "finds expression in the employment policy of the public enterprises in Tripoli where appreciably larger numbers of 63 R. L. Robb: Survey of Land Resources of Tripolitania (British Military Administration, Tripoli, 1945), p. 9. 64 1960 Census of Agriculture: Report and Tables (Ministry of Agriculture, Tripoli, 1962), Table 7-002-044, P. 59- 65 W. B. Fisher: Problems of Modern Libya, Geogr.Journ., Vol. 119, 1953, pp. 183-199; reference on p. 189. 66 1960 Census of Agriculture [see footnote 64 above], Table 7-1 52-o68, p. 83. 67 Labour Survey of North Africa (International Labour Office, Geneva, 1960), p. 103. 68 Higgins, op. cit. [see footnote 46 abovel, p. 85. 69 Ann. Rept. on the British Military Administration of Iripolitania, 1945 [see footnote 49 above], p. 35.
MIGRANTS IN TRIPOLI 423 workers are employed than required for efficient production."7o There is much disguised unemployment in the small-scale textile, tanning, and food- preparation industries of the city; simple technological improvements could release much labor from these industries and at the same time increase pro- duction.7' But in view of the already large numbers seeking employment, any such improvements will have to be made gradually if unemployment is to be avoided. Another important factor is that increasing spatial mobility of labor is not being accompanied by increasing interindustrial mobility; that is, in-migra- tion to Tripoli is only emphasizing the problem of shortage of skilled labor. And the excess of unskilled labor, since it tends to be inefficient and therefore expensive, only serves to increase mechanization, which in turn means that little opportunity in industry will be offered to the mass of unskilled migrants. As far as can be seen, it is not going to be possible to create extensive op- portunities in the nonagricultural sectors of the Libyan economy, and the land must remain the main resource for the bulk of the population. Despite the oil boom, of extreme importance for the long-term expansion of Libya's national income, the petroleum industry cannot greatly increase employment opportunities. Other mineral resources are not promising. Industrial develop- ment is likely to remain limited: raw materials are few, and mainly of agricul- tural origin. Expansion is further limited by the small size of the national mar- ket-the total population of Libya in 1964 was only 1,559,399.72 The popula- tion is unevenly distributed as well as small, which means that transportation costs are high and the problems of distribution and marketing are formidable. In the light of these circumstances, and in a situation where land is going out of cultivation at the same time that food imports are increasing, the problem of rural-urban migration in Libya would seem to be solved most logically by improving agriculture to the point at which rural incomes are more on a par with urban incomes-that is, to the point at which there would be no need to differentiate between the "modern sector" and the "traditional sector" of the Libyan economy. 70 "The Economic Development of Libya" [see footnote 14 above], p. 445. 7I A. Pappayoanou: Handicraft Occupations in Libya: Their Existing Techniques and Possibilities of Expansion (International Labour Office, Geneva, 1951), pp. 3 and 48; Higgins, op. cit. [see footnote 46 above], p. 85. 72 Preliminary Results of the General Populatioin Census, 1964 [see footnote 34 above], Table 1, p. 1.
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