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 Libya's southwestern tip in the Sahara bordering Algeria and Niger
has become an open door for illegal migrants from sub-Saharan
countries heading for Europe, with the chaotic government in Tripoli
appearing to have abandoned all control.
The revolt that overthrew Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi three years
ago emptied Libya's arsenals, flooded the region with guns and
dismantled much of the state apparatus, giving well-organised
smuggler networks the run of the frontier.
"We crossed by foot. There was no army or police," said Abdulkabir,
waiting with his friends for a smuggler to bring them to Ghat, the
first town in Libya. They camped near an unpaved road that leads
straight to the nearby Libyan passport control post, but no patrol
disturbed them.
According to the Italian coast guard, at least 50,000 people have
crossed from North Africa to Italy by boat so far this year, already
far exceeding the 40,000 who arrived in the whole of 2013. Most came
over land from Sub-Saharan Africa, via Libya.
It has been always a challenge to seal Libya's more than 2,000 km
long southern border, but since Gaddafi's fall it appears few are
even trying. Tripoli, some 1,300 km to the north, has reduced
funding to border troops as it grapples with a budget crisis due to
protests that shut down oil exports.
 "The border is open day and night. Anyone who wants can cross it.
There is no control," said Mohamed Abdel-Qadir, head of Ghat's town
council. "Most (smugglers) are armed people, some of them drug
dealers, some trade in weapons, goods and illegal migrants."
Border officials say up to 200 Africans cross the Ghat border strip
every day, most headed north to the Mediterranean coast for the
onward trip to Europe by boat.
In Ghat, a detention center has been built to house migrants caught
trying to cross the frontier. But these days it stands empty and
derelict: the local authorities say they are being given no money to
run it.
Instead, African migrants walk around the town unchallenged. They
live in empty houses and queue every morning on the main street
seeking jobs. Police cars drive by without stopping.
"I came here to look for a job because there is nothing in Niger,"
said a man from northern Niger who gave his name as Mussa. He left
behind his wife and three children.
The human traffickers also don't bother to hide much. "Which police
or army are you talking about?" said a smuggler after putting six
migrants from Niger on his Toyota pickup.
"I don't have a job so I have to make a living," said the smuggler,
one of the Tuareg nomads who dominate the region. He agreed to be
filmed but asked not to be named.
Operating as part of a network, he drives the Nigeriens to Obari,
some 250 km away, where a colleague takes them to Sabha, the next
town as they head north toward the Mediterranean coast.
He is not worried about bumping into a patrol: "I have friends in
the police and army," he said.
"THE BORDER IS OPEN"
Not only do smugglers guide migrants north into Libya, they also
ship goods such and petrol and wheat south into sub-Saharan Africa
or west into Algeria, profiting off the lavish state subsidies that
keep such goods cheap in Libya.
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Weapons are also shipped south, and Western diplomats worry southern
Libya is becoming a haven or transit point for fighters heading in
all directions, towards conflict zones in Egypt, Syria, Sudan or
Mali. When asked whether militant fighters were crossing the
border, the Tuareg smuggler said: "Look, the border is open. You can
do what you want. Smugglers, drug dealers, al Qaeda, anyone who
wants can come. There is no police."
Algeria has closed the land border to Libya and tightened controls,
but an Algerian official said it was difficult to coordinate with
the Libyan side. On the eastern border, Egypt has limited road
traffic to Libya.
Libya's army and police, still in training, are no match for the
armed smugglers. An Interior Ministry force to combat illegal
migration has around 150 men covering a stretch of border 600 km
(400 miles) long, according to officers.
"I've thought about resigning because we can't do the job properly,"
said a senior officer while walking on a paved road used by Libyan
and Algerian forces at the joint border.
"This is a main trail for illegal migrants," he said, pointing to a
rocky path littered with shoes and water bottles left behind by
border crossers.
His force, supported by army posts spaced every few dozen km (miles)
along the border, relies on decade-old Kalashnikovs and has only a
few satellite phones to coordinate action. If Europe is worried
about the migrants, it should do more to help equip and train the
guards, he said.
"The European Union always talks about training and support for us,
but they just talk, talk, talk," said the officer, asking not to be
identified for fear of reprisals.
One army soldier, based in a camp perched between sand dunes, said
he had attended a training course in Turkey where he learned how to
use a satellite monitoring system - which Libya doesn't have.
Tripoli has signed a deal with an Italian firm to install such a
system but town mayor Abdel-Qadir said nothing has happened so far
in the Ghat region.
 He said Libya's government had imported Land Cruisers badly needed
to monitor unpaved desert border paths, but officials kept them in
Tripoli for their own use.
"We've asked for help from the United Nations, international groups
in Libya," he said. "But there is no international, not even local
support. Nothing has materialised on the ground."
(Additional reporting by Lamine Chiki in Algiers; Editing by Peter
Graff)
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