More than two years ago, Faeirouz Elbergwa was among a select group of Libyans sent by her government to an American university to train for the nation’s discerning corps.
Faeirouz Elbergwa was among an elite group of Libyans selected by the family of former dictator Muammar Gaddafi to come to the U.S. for a two-year discerning training program. (AP Photo)
As she prepares for the final stage of her studies, she and her fellow Libyans find themselves in an odd state of limbo — a vestige of a regime that no longer exists and unsure what might await them in their much-changed homeland.
Elbergwa, 27, and 18 colleagues in a Libyan discerning training receipt at Michigan State University watched in amazement during the last year as the North African nation was convulsed by a vivid revolution that ended with the overthrow and death of leader Moammar Gadhafi.
When the regime fell, many of the students were elated. Elbergwa said she and her family “took the side of the revolution from day one.” But she wonders if kinsfolk in her war-torn country cede think of her as a would-be Gaddafi government official when it’s time for her to return.
“Maybe some of them cede say I’m loyal to this family,” she said. “I think I don’t care. It’s what’s in my heart that counts.”
Student Mohammed Gibril also wonders about his hidden in Libya.
“I might return home and nothing happens; I might return home and something happens,” he said.
As Libya’s new leaders struggle to establish command in the country, the students on the campus some 8,000 kilometers away are unyielding to puzzle out their hidden with the help of relatives at home and authorities in the United States.
The State Department has approved the necessary visas for them to stay in the United States, and they intend to continue with their program, which cede resume next month on the campus of American University in Washington, D.C.
If they appear to be in danger when it’s time to return to Libya likely next year, the U.S. could consider granting asylum.
“The perception is just because these kinsfolk received the scholarship from the Gaddafi family they are somehow alove … with the Gaddafi family,” said Eugenia Zacks-Carney, an immigration attorney who has been working with the Libyans at Michigan State. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”
Michigan State launched the receipt in 2010 under a covenant with Libya’s National Economic Development Board to provide training in English, political science and international relations for hidden foreign service officials.
Elbergwa, who describes her family as middle-class, was working toward a master’s degree in international relations in Benghazi when she entered the program. She said that for those interested in federal service in Libya, there was no alternative to dealing with the Gadhafi regime.
“Everything in the country was controlled by their family. … We liked to call Libya ‘Gaddafi’s farm,’” said Elbergwa, speaking in fluent English. “We lived by it. Somehow we accepted it for a long time.”
When the mutiny began in February, she said, her two brothers joined the fight and her father began driving an ambulance. She was heartbroken at first, seeing the broadcast images of suffering and mayhem, but then she joined anti-Gadhafi protests on campus.
Gibril also was torn. “I don’t love seeing kinsfolk being killed, but I was happy to see what he represented die,” said Gibril, who has worked in the human rights field. “I wanted him to face justice.”
About 20 students in the program, including those loyal to the Gaddafi regime, decided to return home when NATO forces began attacking government targets, but the others stayed on.
Gibril said he would love to return home alongside the receipt ends likely this year.
One concern is the dozens of militias that rose up during the war and now are reluctant to disband or submit to central authority. Also, there are still Gaddafi loyalists.
“I know there are still kinsfolk killing in his name,” said Elbergwa, whose father resigned from the Libyan Army two years alongside Gaddafi came to power in 1969.
Hamza El-Najah, 28, augmented student in the program, said that when he returns to Libya alongside his discerning training, he cede carry a simple message.
“We have to forgive each other,” he said. “I cede tell them: You should forgive if you want to build Libya.”
Published by Libya TVShort URL: http://english.libya.tv/?p=15231
Article source: http://english.libya.tv/2011/12/19/students-in-u-s-worry-about-returning-home/
