Libya: To Return or not to Return?

The last weeks saw a variety of activities on Libyan blogs. It was the ‘end of term’ exams in Libyan schools and Khadijateri has devoted several posts to that.

On the other hand, a hot topic was introduced by Nura on Ly-Hub. Ly-Hub is a blog connecting Libyan bloggers or ‘those with an interest in Libya’. Basically, it's a simple aggregator. Nura raised the issue (below), which is very dear to each mughtarib or expatriate.

“I wanted to ask you all – my fellow Libyan brothers and sisters – whether you also have the sporadic urge to return to Libya or not? Since I have never lived in Libya, I often feel very disconnected with the country and I often feel the need to return for a visit to renew that connection, which is already quite weak.”

Nura's question was picked up by Anglo Libyan who posted about it by asking ” To return or not to return?. This seems to plague many Libyans living abroad.

You can check what they say about it here; Anglo Libyan wonders “the important issue, is Libya going to welcome them there? are they going to be accepted by the Libyan people or will people in Libya look down on them and treat them like returning immigrants? there are so many questions but not many answers.”

Rose Buds, a Libyan in Texas, maintains that when we Libyans go abroad we forget the bad things and only remember the good things about Libya. He says it takes one visitor to remind us of those aspects which make us mad about Libya [more].

A very interesting blogger which I have come across recently is OnLibya. His blog Surveyis devoted to the current affairs in our society, such as marriage, health and criticism.

Basically he states his topic then enumerates his questions. This is an sound approach, and you can learn a lot from his down to earth reporting.

So once again we can notice how Libyan blogs seem to be going in different directions, which is why they are never boring. Go and explore them.

4 comments

  • hi from poland! i have a libyan colleague, hassan, here. he is a moderate muslim and we often talk politics, he talks about colonel khadafi with affection, but also thinks the guy is really eccentric…we get along, but i know that he has a tough time here inpoland — dark skinned people have a tough time here, poland has a long way to go as far as it’s public tolerance goes…libya is a relatively rich country isn’t it?

  • […] 原文: Libya: To Return or not to Return?作者: Fozia Mohamed译者: Leonard […]

  • Fozia

    Hi Jordan, thanks for the comment. Libya is basically an oil country and a rentier state. Therefore yes it is rich from the income of the sale of oil, however this income is centralised and so this richness may not always be divided in an ideal way.

  • old momma

    So what recommendations does anyone have on how to encourage those who have been away so long the need to come home again? I was in Libya last summer and I can’t wait to go again. But, I feel a certain level of fear from my hubby in returning to his homeland. So much has changed for him while some things seem to never change. What work will be available to him if we do stay and how does returning affect our children who have been raised in a western world?

Join the conversation

Authors, please log in »

Guidelines

  • All comments are reviewed by a moderator. Do not submit your comment more than once or it may be identified as spam.
  • Please treat others with respect. Comments containing hate speech, obscenity, and personal attacks will not be approved.