As Italy pressures Tripoli to address the latter’s interests, France is coveting Haftar. The ambitions of both European countries have effectively undermined UN Special Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame’s action plan for the country. The plan was designed to amend the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) as well as hold a national conference to bring together all of Libya’s key stakeholders. The next steps were supposed to include a constitutional draft and referendum, paving the way for parliamentary and presidential elections.

Access to education remains just as perilous for Libyan children four years later. The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) revealed that 489 schools were affected by violence in the first seven months of 2018. At least 260,000 students experienced obstacles to accessing an education as a result. Despite the conflict, literacy rates remain high in Libya, standing at nearly 91 per cent as of 2015. However, this figure might not be accurate due to the difficulty in conducting a nationwide census.

Erosion of middle class incomes, discontent with quality of life, the shortage of formal sector jobs, and corruption rather than poverty and income inequality were at the root of the protests. However, King Abdullah’s willingness and ability to implement change is being put to the test.

While the kidnapping of foreigners in Libya has made headlines, nationals from countries in sub-Saharan Africa are arguably the most vulnerable. Most of them are fleeing persecution, war and famine, pushing them to rely on criminal gangs to take them to Europe. However, since Europe began contracting Libyan militias to intercept boats at sea in February 2017, smugglers have resorted to kidnapping migrants to earn a profit instead.

Most Libyans emphasize that adopting a new constitution is a must before holding elections. That way, Libya can at least have a legal blueprint to rebuild weak institutions. However, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement released on 21 March 2018, the rights group urged Libya not to rush into elections.

Although Sufis were marginalized for much of Qaddafi’s rule, circumstances have arguably worsened since he died. After the revolution, Sufis worried that new religious officials were inspired by Salafist ideologies, leading them to appoint extremist sheikhs in mosques that pro-Qaddafi preachers once occupied. Some of these new sheikhs quickly pressured authorities to replace other long-time Sufi imams with hardliners.

Five years later, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) helped jump-start a reconciliation process between the two cities. An agreement was reached on 31 August 2016, stipulating that the primary condition for the return of the Tawergha is that the victims of the 2011 uprising are compensated. Residents from Tawergha are expecting to receive financial compensation, but so are fighters from Misrata who accepted the deal.

An Amnesty International report accused European governments of being ‘knowingly complicit in the torture and abuse of tens of thousands of refugees and migrants detained by Libyan immigration authorities in appalling conditions’. However, In the wake of the revelations of the Libyan slave trade, EU officials announced plans to team up with the African Union in a joint task force of police and intelligence agencies targeting human trafficking.