--- title: In Libya, African Guest Workers in Dangerous Limbo | TIME description: Pastor Anthony Ojiexeri tends a refugee camp outside of Tripoli, where African guest workers seek shelter from violence and harassment canonical: https://time.com/video/HHpFpkqb/ og:title: In Libya, African Guest Workers in Dangerous Limbo og:description: Pastor Anthony Ojiexeri tends a refugee camp outside of Tripoli, where African guest workers seek shelter from violence and harassment og:url: https://time.com/video/HHpFpkqb/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/HHpFpkqb/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: In Libya, African Guest Workers in Dangerous Limbo twitter:description: Pastor Anthony Ojiexeri tends a refugee camp outside of Tripoli, where African guest workers seek shelter from violence and harassment twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/HHpFpkqb/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # In Libya, African Guest Workers in Dangerous Limbo > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: In Libya, African Guest Workers in Dangerous Limbo [Watch (HLS stream): In Libya, African Guest Workers in Dangerous Limbo](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/HHpFpkqb.m3u8) (3:49)  _Published 2011-09-21. Pastor Anthony Ojiexeri tends a refugee camp outside of Tripoli, where African guest workers seek shelter from violence and harassment_ --- Jul 27, 2023 3:17 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [](/video/yIigSMro/) ![Trump Welcomes Planeload of White South Africans, While Shutting Out Other Refugees \[VERTICAL\]](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/yIigSMro/poster.jpg?width=720)01:46 ### Trump Welcomes Planeload of White South Africans, While Shutting Out Other Refugees \[VERTICAL\] [The Violence in The Central African Republic: TIME Explains](/video/T8aZz74r/) ### The Violence in The Central African Republic: TIME Explains [Somali Refugees from Libya Put On a Show in Tunisia](/video/BcTP4TLI/) ### Somali Refugees from Libya Put On a Show in Tunisia --- ## Transcript In Jesus' name, we have prayed. Amen. In an abandoned military port west of Tripoli, Pastor Anthony [ UNKNOWN ] leads Sunday mass. [ SOUND ] His congregation is made up of guest workers. Among the estimated one million who have been living in Libya for year. Some, for decades. For [ UNKNOWN ], Colonel Muammar al- Gaddafi used foreign fighters in his armed forces. Many black africans working in Libya were targeted after the uprising began. [ NOISE ] [ MUSIC ] Like Henry Winser now one of Ogietty [ INAUDIBLE ] Three weeks ago, rebels attained him in a Tripoli prison where he says he witnessed a shooting of a fellow Nigerian. So [ INAUDIBLE ] they brought out a [ INAUDIBLE ], to show that if [ INAUDIBLE ] they will kill. So they shot the guy [ INAUDIBLE ] and the guy was scared. [ CROSSTALK ] [ INAUDIBLE ] they just asked us to go to the streets. Us people don't have home. [ SOUND ] More than 1, 000 people came to this port to escape fighting and retaliation, hoping to leave by boat for Europe. Instead, they'd been stuck in what became a makeshift refugee camp. Afraid to venture outside for fear of being arrested or killed. Stay in your tents. We don't know what is, we don't know [ INAUDIBLE ] is going on. You are not [ UNKNOWN ] you are nobody. This place, you are, hide in here. On this day, the arrival of more rebel troops has the pastor worried that Africans will end up in the crosshairs of rebel guns. The food is not a problem now. They, we are scared. [ SOUND ] Everybody should stay in his tent and begin to pray that God will help us. They have reason to be cautious, since the rebels entered Tripoli, people here speak of continuous harassment, extortion, and even rape. [ CROSSTALK ] Charity, one of Pastor Ojieri's congregation, says that she was raped by four Arab men. It was a night of horror to us that day. I was ashamed of myself, for [ INAUDIBLE ] I was not myself after they have gone, I was not myself. [ MUSIC ] Pastor Ojieri tries to hold this community together, but the situation is deteriorating. [ CROSSTALK ] Chaotic moments like this afternoon's water distribution are becoming more frequent and more violent. [ CROSSTALK ]: The more they bring us the more we'll start fighting and [ INAUDIBLE ] [ CROSSTALK ] Even though they fear for their lives in Libya, many camp residents don't want to return to their native countries. Libyans fleeing war can apply for refugee status in other countries, but so- called economic migrants. Have no claim, to international protection. Which leaves them, in legal limbo. The International Organization for Migration, a humanitarian agency, says they are welcome to return some of those who would go home, but help, has been slow to arrive. For the rest, they are trapped between the lives they left, and a new life. Destroyed by war. 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