While many are seeing great opportunities to live and work in Libya now that it has opened up to the world, the lingering question still remains whether or not it is a safe place to live and work. We hope to answer this question by comparing what is seen in the mainstream media with what we experience in our daily lives as we live and do business here in Tripoli.
What You See on TV, Internet, Newspapers, etc…
If we were to answer this question based solely on what is reported on the main TV news networks or on news internet sites, the answer would most likely be NO. However, we have to understand that journalists and internet writers want to sell their stories. They want people to watch their news channels, read their news articles and go to their websites. For this reason, they tend to exaggerate and focus only on the negative events. For example, with the recent events with the militias in Tripoli, journalists would have the general public think that all of Tripoli is full of militias fighting and firing into the crowds. The fact is that it was a small area where this occurred and while it was a horrific event, other areas of town saw and heard nothing.
Unfortunately the major news networks do not cover the positive aspects of what is happening in Libya. They do not tend to mention all of the new businesses that are entering the Libyan markets. Nor do they focus on the rebuilding efforts of many businesses and government projects or the restarting or work on many building projects that were forced to stop work during the revolution.
What We See and Experience By Living and Working Here in Tripoli
Life here in Tripoli is a lot different than what is seen in the news. Libyans are extremely generous and hospitable. They are very welcoming to the foreigners who come here to live, work and visit! Libyans are happy that their country is no longer isolated from the world. Rather they now want people to come and see the country that they love so much! Libya and Libyans have a lot to offer to the rest of the world.
The security situation is greatly improving each and every day. Just this last week, we have started to see newly uniformed police officers at the major intersections. They are monitoring the traffic and pulling over those who are not following the traffic laws. Many of the militias are now moving out of Tripoli and several are officially joining the Libyan army and police force. The military has projects for being trained by other countries such as the 8000 that will be trained soon by the US military.
In conclusion we strongly feel that Libya IS a safe place to live and work. Yes it does have areas that it needs to improve in. However, it is moving in the right direction. Life is going on as normal here in Tripoli. It is certainly not the war zone that many of the news programs would leave you to believe. We encourage you to come and experience Libya for yourself. We feel that you will agree with us that it is a great place to live and work!