--- title: Somali Refugees from Libya Put On a Show in Tunisia | TIME description: Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers have fled Libya since fighting broke out in February.  Many have landed on the Tunisian border, in a refugee camp, including one aspiring playwright canonical: https://time.com/video/BcTP4TLI/ og:title: Somali Refugees from Libya Put On a Show in Tunisia og:description: Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers have fled Libya since fighting broke out in February.  Many have landed on the Tunisian border, in a refugee camp, including one aspiring playwright og:url: https://time.com/video/BcTP4TLI/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/BcTP4TLI/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Somali Refugees from Libya Put On a Show in Tunisia twitter:description: Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers have fled Libya since fighting broke out in February.  Many have landed on the Tunisian border, in a refugee camp, including one aspiring playwright twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/BcTP4TLI/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Somali Refugees from Libya Put On a Show in Tunisia > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Somali Refugees from Libya Put On a Show in Tunisia [Watch (HLS stream): Somali Refugees from Libya Put On a Show in Tunisia](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/BcTP4TLI.m3u8) (4:07)  _Published 2011-04-20. Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers have fled Libya since fighting broke out in February.  Many have landed on the Tunisian border, in a refugee camp, including one aspiring playwright_ --- Jul 27, 2023 3:12 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Why They Protest: Egypt, Libya and Syria](/video/4bPgDZLR/) ### Why They Protest: Egypt, Libya and Syria [The Mental Toll of Libya's War](/video/yNU2oT5A/) ### The Mental Toll of Libya's War [Yemen a Dead End for Somali Refugees](/video/ik7BIwMH/) ### Yemen a Dead End for Somali Refugees --- ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] The world's newest musical is debuting tonight, off Broadway. Actually, you couldn't get any farther from Broadway than this. It's the middle of the Sahara desert, and a young Somali named Abderzek is putting on his very first production. [ FOREIGN ] A few kilometers from the Tunisian border with Libya, tens of thousands of migrant laborers have congregated after fleeing fighting between Libyan government forces and revolutionaries bent on unseeding leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. But as some of the residents move into their second and third weeks at the camp Waiting for a return back to their native countries they get restless. That's where Sama Bakar comes in. [ FOREIGN ] After talking with the military chef of camp he asked us not to bring food, medication, or clothes but a bit of joy for the refugees. [ FOREIGN ] Sama Bakar is a famous Tunisian filmmaker, and she's here in the desert to provide a little entertainment, which isn't easy when the audience contains nationalities as diverse as Bangladeshis and Sudanese. [ FOREIGN ] We thought about inviting Tunisian artists, and singers, but finally the stars are the refugees themselves. [ INAUDIBLE ] A car, and a group of local Boy Scouts built a movie screen, and a make- shift stage, and when the camp goes dark at night It's showtime. [ FOREIGN ] Tonight I can't wait to see this group of young Somali's who want to perform a theatre play using musical instruments borrowed from us. Icar has been helping a young Somali named Abderzek, develop a musical drama he wrote in his tent. I, I write it, I direct it, and I produce it. Abderzek has been in the Tunisian Desert for a week. And because the political situation in his native Somalia is complicated, he may be here a while. Cuz we haven't realised. The, the, most of the people of here are teenagers. And they need future and the, how to get educational how to get what I can call, development service. That's why we are this closer to be in, like a refugee here and we don't hope to stay here a longer time. Yeah We hope to go here soon. Abderzek says he wrote the musical in his tent over the course of a few days, it's semi- autobiographical covering the last few weeks of his life, when he fled Libya, crossed into Tunisia and now waits for what's next. Abderzek says these experiences are something that the other nationalities at the camp should be able to embrace. Are you nervous? What is it? Are you nervous? Ha ha. No. I am very happy. Because I think he, tonight is a festival, is the first night that the world, that the money different nations waiting of my production. As the stars come out the post inner crowd descends on some of the [ INAUDIBLE ] stage in the desert. A few Tunisian entertainers get the crowd excited, and then, a message to the World begins. [ FOREIGN ] This may not be Broadway, but for 18, 000 migrant labors far from home, it's a break from the struggles of the last month. And for Abderzek. It marks the debut of the world's newest and possibly most resilient playwright. 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