MONA TOKA

Libya- The struggles of women, who live without official documents and citizenship rights, reveal the invisible face of migration. The life story of Salwa Muhammad, an Egyptian migrant living in Libya for more than 40 years, shows the challenges faced by women migrants and their struggles.

Her only window into life

Living in a modest working-class neighborhood of Libya’s Sabha city, Salwa Muhammad sits at her sewing machine inside a small workshop every day to cover the expenses. This machine is both her only window into life and her most important tool in her fight against poverty. Salwa Muhammad did not come to Libya from Egypt neither in search of adventure nor in the hope of finding work. She came to Libya at the age of 14 when she married her Palestinian husband.

She has spent her life as a migrant

Married at an age when girls were playing games, Salwa Muhammad found herself both a wife and a migrant in a country she did not know at all. She neither knew Libya nor had any idea about marriage. Salwa Muhammad is now in her 60s and has spent most of her life in Libya without any citizenship rights. She gave birth to her seven children in Libya, building an undocumented life as a migrant.

She holds on to life

“Since my husband died in 2010, I have not received any social security support from either the Libyan authorities or from my own country, Egypt,” said Salwa Muhammad. “I have neither a house nor any financial support. When my husband died, I suddenly found myself all alone. Now, I live in a rented house and I am the only breadwinner of my family.”

Salwa Muhammad works as a tailor in Libya to earn a living for herself and her children. “What I earn is insufficient to cover either the household expenses or my children's education expenses. My oldest son had to drop out of high school and started working to support me. My daughters go to school in Libya; however, they are not treated as the citizens. Despite all the challenges, one of the most important goals in my life is sending my daughters to school.”

Salwa Muhammad strives to instill hope in her children and to give them what she herself was deprived of, despite the high cost of living and poverty.