The children of Tunisia are stuck abroad, between the hammer of war and the pillars of politics

Mounira Hijlawi - Tunisia

With his small body, exhausted by the effects of surgeries and connected with medical devices and devices, the child is lying dead in a Libyan prison. He is waiting for a permit from the Tunisian state to perform a fifth operation outside Libya, giving him hope of survival.

In March 2016, Barra 's father, who joined the Islamic State Organization in Libya, was killed. His mother survived and was shot in the direct bombardment of their car. They were brought together with several other Tunisian children and their mothers in some Libyan prisons after their parents were killed Who joined the organization.

Despite his critical health condition and his need for special care, Berra has been in prison for three years and his uncle Moncef al-Obeidi explains that the International Red Cross has expressed its willingness to ensure treatment abroad because Libyan medical institutions lack the necessary equipment. The Tunisian state that did not move a finger, "as he put it.

Poor conditions
All children stranded in Libyan prisons live in poor mental and health conditions. They have been infected with scabies for four months because they live in a single room with their mothers and have not received medication or treatment until the writing of the report.

They also suffer from hunger and malnutrition, fed one meal every day or two, according to the same source.

Al-Obeidi said that all doors, including the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Interior, Women and Children and the President of the Republic, are demanding the return of his sister and son. He participated with the rest of the families in protest vigils and marches calling for the return of their children, but they received no response.

In turn, Grandpa Mabrouk al-Yusufi recalls every moment of his meeting with his daughter in one of Misrata's Libyan prisons in 2017 after years of separation and her difficult psychological condition after her son's death.

The case of Wendy has a forehead
"When I saw my daughter that way, I did not want to deepen her wounds by asking her for details," he said.

The man examined the situation of the children, saying to Al-Jazeera Net, "Their condition is open to them. They are deprived of life, study, play and dress."

The spokesman explained that the transfer of children's suffering to all official state institutions, but received promises did not materialize, and handed the Ministry of the Interior a letter addressed to them daughter, expressing the desire to return without receiving any answer.

"There are more than 100 cases of a Tunisian child stranded in Libya and Syria, distributed over camps in northern Syria, with 107 children and 44 women, on the 37 prisons in Misrata and Maitika in Libya," said the head of Save the Tunisians Abroad Association Mohamed Iqbal al-Rajab.

Semi-random places
These children live in very difficult conditions and live in semi-random places, which are not protected by the heat of the summer and the cold of winter, and the Association has documented two deaths of two children due to lack of medical care and medicines, according to Aljazeera.net.

With the first case since 2016, the Association stresses that they have worked to bring the voices and appeals of these innocent children to the Tunisian State through the implementation of numerous vigils and the issuance of statements, but have not noticed any progress in this case.

On January 9, 2019, the Association sent a letter to the Presidency calling for urgent intervention to resolve the issue of children stranded abroad, but was surprised by the loss of the message, according to the same source.

The Libyan side and the Kurdish parties in the north of Syria have assured the Assembly of their willingness to hand over the children with their mothers. The International Red Cross expressed its logistical readiness to transport them, pointing out that the matter is only linked to an official communication and delegation from Tunisia to complete the procedures.

The state is present
On the other hand, during a parliamentary hearing on 28 November 2018, Tunisian Foreign Minister Khamis Jahnawi said that Tunisia had sent an official delegation to Libya to conduct tests to determine whether they were Tunisians or not, in preparation for their return, but the delegation failed in its mission.

Al-Jahnawi attributed this failure to the political situation in Libya, saying that "there is not a single government that oversees the whole country, but there are three sides each declare control of the section from Libya, and the Tunisian delegation did not succeed in his work because of non-response of the Libyan authorities."

He added that the Tunisian state continues its efforts to resolve the issue of stranded children, stressing that the same applies to those stranded in Syria, stressing that Tunisia is not absent there and that it is in daily contact with the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about Tunisians stranded in Syrian prisons, including children in camps.

Al-Jazeera Net tried to obtain clarification from the Tunisian Foreign Ministry, but it did not receive an answer of refusal or acceptance.

Not to find a solution to this sensitive file, attributed to the political analyst and Libyan expert Ghazi Maali to try some of the informal parties to employ politically for its benefit.

Political and media recruitment
The Tunisian side feels that there is an intention to employ it politically and informally, considering Libya's political division and dealing with one party at the expense of another, the government of national reconciliation.

According to the spokesman, armed security battalions with certain political orientations and internal and external links that control some areas and prisons where the children are located, want to "give the impression that the Tunisian state has systematically contributed to bringing those who fought within the organization of the state."

He believes that the file is essentially political and does not interfere with security instability, whether in Libya or Syria, and this justifies the Tunisian state's caution in dealing with it, stressing the need to deal with it case by case away from all political and media recruitment.