The Italian refugees from Libya were the Italian settlers and their descendants who were forced out of Libya after the end of

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Most took refuge in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, mainly after their expulsion in 1970, ordered by

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-Gaddafi ...

History

Post World War II

The era of international

decolonization Decolonization is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby Imperialism, imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. The meanings and applications of the term are disputed. Some scholar ...

led to an exodus of

Italians Italians (, ) are a European peoples, European ethnic group native to the Italian geographical region. Italians share a common Italian culture, culture, History of Italy, history, Cultural heritage, ancestry and Italian language, language. ...

from what used to be the colony of

Italian Libya Libya (; ) was a colony of Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Italy located in North Africa, in what is now modern Libya, between 1934 and 1943. It was formed from the unification of the colonies of Italian Cyrenaica, Cyrenaica and Italian Tripolitan ...

, especially after Libya became independent in the 1950s. Nearly half of the Italian colonists who arrived when governor

Italo Balbo Italo Balbo (6 June 1896 – 28 June 1940) was an Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Italian fascist politician and Blackshirts' leader who served as Italy's Marshal of the Air Force, Governor-General of Italian Libya and Commander-in-Chief of Italian ...

brought to Libya his "Ventimilli" in 1938-1939, went away in the late 1940s: this first wave of refugees moved to Italy; soon afterwards, in the early 1950s, most of them emigrated to the Americas (mainly to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

) and to western Europe (

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Benelux The Benelux Union (; ; ; ) or Benelux is a politico-economic union, alliance and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighbouring states in Western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The name is a portma ...

, etc.). After several years under British mandate, on December 24, 1951 Libya declared its independence as the

United Kingdom of Libya The Kingdom of Libya (; ), known as the United Kingdom of Libya from 1951 to 1963, was a constitutional monarchy in North Africa that came into existence upon independence on 24 December 1951 and lasted until a bloodless coup d'état on 1 Sept ...

(a constitutional, hereditary monarchy under King Idris). In 1952 the exodus of most of the remaining Italian colonial settlers started, mainly those in areas away from the main cities. Although in the late 1950s most of the 110,000 Italians living in 1940

had already left the former colony, some thousands remained (primarily farmers and craftsmen) and some even tried to participate in the political life of the new Libya. King Idris was a relatively tolerant monarch, and generally treated the Italian population well: in 1964 Libya there still were 27000 Italians, of which 24000 lived in the metropolitan area of Tripoli.

1970

But after 1970 the Italian population almost disappeared when Colonel

ordered the expulsion of all Italians colonists, settlers and

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

from Libya. Already in 1967, as a consequence of the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

, through an airlift and the aid of several ships, the

Italian Navy The Italian Navy (; abbreviated as MM) is one of the four branches of Italian Armed Forces and was formed in 1946 from what remained of the ''Regia Marina'' (Royal Navy) after World War II. , the Italian Navy had a strength of 30,923 active per ...

helped evacuate more than 6,000 Libyan Jews to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in one month.Gruber, Ruth Ellen
Unknown immigration from Libya has swelled ranks of Italian Jewry
" in JTA October 11, 2004 These Jewish evacuees were forced to leave their homes, their businesses and most of their possessions behind: of these 6,000, about 4,000 soon emigrated to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

or the

, while the ones who remained stayed in

, because they all spoke Italian and had been fully integrated with the Italian way of life since 1911. Out of the approximately 15,000 Roman Jews, around 4,000 are of Libyan descent, and constitute an influential part of the community. Indeed in 1970, after the advent of the Libyan revolution, more than twenty thousand Italian colonists settlers in Libya were suddenly expelled from the country and, like the Jews in 1967, suffered the confiscation of all property. This was in violation of the treaty between Italy and Libya signed in 1956: this treaty was concluded on the basis of a UN Resolution of 1950, which linked the creation of the independent Libyan monarchy to the respect the rights and interests of the minorities living in the country. Some Italians of Libya wanted to organize a "resistance" political group to protect their past hegemony. The value of the assets lost by the Italians expelled has been calculated in 1970 by the Italian government in 200 billion lire based on real estate property value alone. Including bank deposits and various entrepreneurial activities, this figure exceeds 400 billion lire that equals about 3 billion euro or dollars of 2006. The Confiscation of 1970 was justified by Qaddafi (then president-dictator of Libya) as partial relief for the damages resulting from colonization. Regarding "Visas" in Libya, after the initial enthusiasm following the visit of the then Italian Prime Minister

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; 29 September 193612 June 2023) was an Italian Media proprietor, media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a mem ...

to Gaddafi in 2004, in which the problem seemed to be overcome, nearly nothing was done: up to 2011 Italian citizens repatriated in 1970 could not return to the country until after the age of 65, through an organized trip and with the entry documents authorized both in Italian and Arabic. Even those born in Libya were denied access, as was the case of international actress

Rossana Podestà Rossana Podestà (born Carla Dora Podestà; 20 June 1934 – 10 December 2013) was an Italian actress who worked mainly in Italy from the 1950s to the 1970s. Biography Podestà was born in Tripoli, Libya, Tripoli in the Italian colony of Italia ...

who complained to have been denied the possibility of returning to her "Italian Tripoli" birthplace after 1970.

Current situation

In 2014 the Italian embassy in Tripoli was one of the few Western embassies still active in Libya during the Post-civil war violence in Libya due to the fact that Italy was the most important trade partner for Libya and that there were 624 Italians working in Italian companies in the country. Few Italians remain in Libya. Italian refugees from Libya maintain their own organization called ''Associazione Italiani Rimpatriati dalla Libia'' (AIRL).

Notes

Bibliography

* Del Boca, Angelo. ''The Italians in Libya, from Fascism to Gaddafy''. Editoriale Laterza. Bari, 1991 * Fuller, Mia. ''Preservation and Self-Absorption: Italian colonization and the walled city of Tripoli, Libya'' in BEN GHIAT Ruth, FULLER Mia, "Italian colonialism". Palgrave Macmillan. New York, 2008 * Metz Chapin, Helen, ed. ''Libya: A Country Study''. Washington: GPO for the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...