Localizing Chinese migrants in Africa: A study of the Chinese in Libya before the Civil War

Abstract

Before the 21st century, Chinese presence in Libya was minimal. In the last years of the Gaddafi regime, however, a large-scale temporary migrant community quickly formed. Then, as unrest in Libya increased, the community was withdrawn abruptly in early 2011 in China’s first officially organized mass evacuation. This short-lived community does not display the characteristics associated with Chinese migration to Africa as a whole, suggesting the necessity of local ethnographic case studies across the continent to form a more accurate and complete picture. Migration was spurred by labour contracted by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) from all over China, and did not feature private traders except for those who provided services for the labourers. It is probable that any recurrence of Chinese migration into Libya will again be SOE-driven, although favourable attitudes and policies on the part of the post-Gaddafi administration could possibly engender a more autonomous minority.