transformed the characteristics of migration in Libya, deeply affecting flows to, within, and from the country (Cummings et al., 2015). While Libya is still an important destination country for foreign workers, Libya is now also a transit country for migrants heading to Europe. Due to the dissolution of the Libyan state and the lack of a government able to control the territory, the migration routes through the country remained unguarded and Libya has become the main gateway to Europe for irregular migrants (Friebel et al., 2023; UNHCR, 2019b).

Libya is the arrival point of two important irregular migrant routes, the Western and the Eastern route (see Figure A1). The Western route to enter Libya is used by migrants from West and Central Africa traveling from Niger and reaching the southern district of Sebha. The Eastern route is instead used predominantly by East Africans who usually cross the Sudanese border to enter the district of Kufra in the southeast (UNHCR, 2019b).

Once migrants arrive in Libya, most head north to the coastline. This is the part of the country where more employment opportunities exist (Wittenberg, 2017) and also from where it is easier to attempt reaching the other side of the Mediterranean Sea (Mixed Migration Hub, 2015; IOM, 2015; UNHCR, 2017a). The trip to Europe is expensive. This is why - once in Libya - many migrants stay for long periods in hubs along their route, working to afford the next leg of their trip (Adesina, 2021). Information on and analysis of the internal movements of migrants within Libya is very scarce. One exception is Di Maio et al. (2023), which documents the large migrants movements within the country (see Figure A2). They identify the different migrants’ routes in Libya and their evolution across time, showing that migrants tend to move north, and that they sort into these routes according to their nationality.

Migrants in Libya travel in stages, turning to smugglers for the difficult legs of the journey.<sup>11</sup> Ethnographic research documents that the relationship between migrants and smugglers in Libya is more complex than usually thought (Sanchez, 2020). Identifying smugglers as criminals and migrants as victims oversimplify a complex and often symbiotic relationship (World Bank, 2023).<sup>12</sup> In the Libyan context, smugglers are often ordinary people, living in border areas along migration pathways, and in coastal towns and cities, who facilitate the movement of migrants through the country (Sanchez, 2020). Migrants survey data indicates that smugglers are in most of the case considered “travel agents” (59% of respondents) and only in few cases “criminals” (11%) (Murphy-Teixidor et al., 2020). Other studies emphasize that smugglers and migrants have a common interest that their interaction is successful. Moreover, the various roles of migrants (who sometimes contribute to the organization of the journey) blurs the boundary between smugglers and their clients (Achilli, 2021). Taken together, the evidence from these studies suggests that migrants do not perform a passive role in their journeys: they have agency and are essential actors of their mobility (Sanchez, 2020). Based on these arguments, migrants in Libya should be thought of as (most often) being able to choose when and where to move in controlling the Eastern part of the country.

> 11In a survey of 5,159 migrants conducted in Libya in 2019, 32% reported not using any smuggler, while 37% used one smuggler, and 31% used several smugglers along their journey (Murphy-Teixidor et al., 2020).

> 12Smuggling and human trafficking are two very distinct phenomena (Adesina, 2021). Smuggling refers to a voluntary movement of migrants (within or between countries) facilitated by an agent (smuggler) who receives payment to take them to a destination. Instead, human trafficking refers to a movement of migrants into another country that includes an element of extortion, exploitation, or coercion. In the case of Libya, only rarely smuggling overlap with human trafficking (Achilli, 2021).

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