Why is it so hard to reintegrate Libyan fighters into society?
Libya is working to reintegrate the young people who fought in the revolution, but the country's economic situation and social unrest pose even bigger challenges than its ongoing insecurity.
“You fought or you died,” explained Ashraf al-Meer, who in March 2011 joined the revolutionary fight against the 42-year rule of Moammar Gadhafi to protect his family. At the age of 28, after two weeks of military training and armed with a Kalashnikov, he would fight for the next eight months for the liberation of his country.
Following Gadhafi’s fall, Meer joined the military, but suddenly decided to hand in his weapon in 2012. Thanks to the organization the Libyan Program for Reintegration and Development (LPRD), which offers training for ex-combatants, he realized that fighting wasn’t the only way to rebuild the future of his country.
