The always asked question - is it safe?

Hi

Im in the same boat, been sending messages to different schools, American school(AST) not opening this year, British school website not working and dont think will be opening. There is lots of other international school mostly run by libyans, but not sure about their teaching staff and pupil attendence is 100% libyans at present. Hope that helps.

to be honest it's not safe yet even on capital center .you can expect disaster any minute. chances to be kidnapped are too high specially that happened to parliament members journalists politicians . foreigners are easy target for those .

Not the place to bring a family at the moment, security is, as usual, all about being aware of your surroundings and being sensible.

no, it is not safe.

well tripoli college  school is open and is not full of libyans  it is gurgi right next door to the british school  i dont think british school is working yet not sure what years  they do think year 4 to 10  i have 2 daughters there and i am english they teach in english  as for safety been here 4 years and yes not very safe but ok if u are careful and dont go out at night  preferably not on ur own

jackie2 wrote:

well tripoli college  school is open and is not full of libyans  it is gurgi right next door to the british school  i dont think british school is working yet not sure what years  they do think year 4 to 10  i have 2 daughters there and i am english they teach in english  as for safety been here 4 years and yes not very safe but ok if u are careful and dont go out at night  preferably not on ur own

Hi can you please let me know if they have a website. How about their teaching staff. thanks

If it is the school right next to the British School on the same street, I have never seen a western kid go there not once in the 5 years i was ferrying my kids to the British School.

Why would they go to a Libyan school anyway when there were lots of international schools at the time.

The schools or Lack of them especially good teachers or even teachers is the major stumbling block for potential returnees. I would not go back unless the schools soon to open. I do not think they will open for at least another year.

The British and US school were supposed to open this year at the earliest (Sep 2013). However this is looking very doubtful.

The security situation will only get worse unless all the guns are taken off the streets. There are too many people shooting in the air and many many people have been killed, seriously injured, injured by falling bullets. I do not think i would risk my kids at the moment.

The British School was open before Gadaffi and I am sure it will open again.

safe ?  ...ummm, No. The reason is so many guns (in wrong hands), but also presence of drugs around, especially heavy duty ones...  I can't take 100 m of walk without seeing thrown needles on the ground. If you ever meet the guy on dose here, you may feel only elementary fear - never know what can be his next move.
Schools - even if they're opened, I didn't take a risk to bring my children while the present situation is like this.  I had my family with me up to february 2011, now I'm living alone, waiting for better days to come... hope it wil not be counted in decades..

Looks like the security situation is getting worse. I can feel there will be another civil war to control the militia.
How else will the government get all the guns off the streets. Drugs and guns are not good companions. Already the US is on high alert a d the Brits are pulling out staff.

Once the government has a strong enough army then they can clear the streets of weapons. Until that time Libya will never be safe.

I was there in December for a month and walked around quite happily, drive in the city with no problems. Now I think more criminals are on the street and will target westerners.

Schools will not open as they have to ensure the safety o the staff.

There is a warning on traveling to Libya so impossible for schools to open.

To be quite honest the country is in a real mess.

Shame really as the people are friendly by and large.

There appears to be too much interference from outside which is undermining the government. Not much can be done without money so where are the militia's getting the money from.
Stop the cash and the Militia's cannot function. But they may resort to kidnappings etc. same as is happening in N Mali.

James

I've been here now for about 3 weeks.   I have been coming on and off for quite a few years.   As a woman, I don't find it too difficult to get around and am not bothered, however, I only go out by myself during the day.   My only real fears are the absolute lunatics on the road driving. Young, old, doesn't' matter -- all lunatics.   I honestly feel that I am taking my life into my hands each time I get on the road here.  To make matters worse, the last few times I have come I always seem to witness a car crash.  Just last week coming back from ACE I witnessed a car literally fly into the air, turn over and come crashing down.  I saw them carry away the unconscious driver into a taxi.  Last year, same thing.  Some kids passed us driving like a maniac, lost control, and flipped the car twice  and ended in a tree.

I don't know that I would bring a family at this time.  I don't have young children, but I do believe just going to the store in a car is more dangerous that the guns on the streets.

Believe it or not, I am trying to stay positive.

Totally agree with you about the driving here and yes this is far more dangerous than any guns.

There was a very good article about the accident / death rate in Libya a few years back.

During the time of the second gulf war, there were more people killed on the roads of Libya than in the war. There was a big push to make driving safer with compulsory use of seat belts etc. However, now with virtually no rules I do not think you see many people with seat belts on. You even see drivers with kids on their knees on the highway. I even asked one of these drivers why he carrys his kid like that. reply - I love him so much i want to hold him all the time. Answer - If you love him that much get him a proper child seat. Reply - Smiled . Which meant you must be joking no one uses childs seats, and he was right. Only foreigners used child seats.

Libya has the highest death rate on the roads and second to Oman in the number of accidents. Most deaths are young people and it was recognised that a real waste of resouces was happening on the roads. That was from2010.

Details can be found here
http://www.libyaherald.com/2013/01/07/n … dangerous/
Quick summary :

The Libyan new agency LANA has quoted the directorate saying that 2,728 people were killed in 2,112 traffic accidents between the beginning of January and the end of November last year.

According to the new Libyan statistics for the 11 months of last year, there were also 1,568 serious accidents, in which 3,200 people were badly injured and a further 1,271 in which 3,347 people suffered minor injuries.

One other point, no one has insurance in Libya, well at least 99 percent do not have insurance. The only insurance that drivers have is in the event of death and this was a government thing anyway. So you get hit by a car chances are you will not get any compensation. Well you wont.

If you have a car in Libya and I had 3 at one stage get full insurance it is very easy. i paid 600USD for all 3 cars. Probably 6000 now though.


Will it be fixed, the Libyans really tried before the revolution.

NO.

James.

SuPerHit wrote:

to be honest it's not safe yet even on capital center .you can expect disaster any minute. chances to be kidnapped are too high specially that happened to parliament members journalists politicians . foreigners are easy target for those .

? Are you saying people HAVE been kidnapped?

I have not read a thing in the news .. is it listed somewhere?

Martin

senseimartin007 wrote:

SuPerHit wrote:

to be honest it's not safe yet even on capital center .you can expect disaster any minute. chances to be kidnapped are too high specially that happened to parliament members journalists politicians . foreigners are easy target for those .

? Are you saying people HAVE been kidnapped?

I have not read a thing in the news .. is it listed somewhere?

Martin

Exactly, all these negative reviews here are without any evidence or support. Yes there are incidents and some hidden agendas to keep it unsettled, but we see daily life is going normally.
Any of you expats has been kidnapped or abused while on the street? You all still go to work and home with no problems.
We hope for the dangerous driving to get better, and people die in car accidents all over the world.

Zlatan u r from Bosnia ,,,,, i think u've seen worst than wut u r talking .... kiddnapin and nedlles all over the streets ,,, r u in a diffrent part of Libya ???!!!