Over three million illegal migrants working in Libya do not pay any taxes or make their fair contribution to the state.
The statement was made by Ali Al-Abed, Minister of Labour and Rehabilitation, during a television interview last Tuesday (21 October) on the state Libya Al-Wataniya TV Channel.
While appreciating the work they do and are getting paid for, Al-Abed said these Illegal migrant workers are negatively affecting Libya’s economy.
Alabed said there are about one million Egyptian workers and another million workers from Niger alone. Meanwhile, Libyans suffer unemployment and many cannot find jobs. They are also struggling with the cost of living and the exchange rate of the dollar.
The Minister said that despite his Ministry’s efforts to get Libyan employers to register their foreign workers and pay their dues, only about 100,000 foreign workers pay taxes. Many do not pay for electricity by making illegal connections to the grid and they enjoy all the subsidised items such as bread, cooking gas etc.
He also said there is a security angle to their presence in Libya in large numbers, unregistered and untracked.
Al-Abed highlighted this by quoting the Central Bank of Libya saying that foreign workers transferred abroad about US$ 5 billion in 2023 and about US$ 7 billion 2024. This is a huge drain on Libya’s hard currency reserves and is contributing to the devaluation of the Libyan dinar. This in turn is lowering the purchasing power and standard of living of Libyan citizens.
Growing mood in Libya to make illegal migrant workers pay their fair share
The Minister was speaking with the background in Libya of a growing mood to make illegal migrant workers pay their fair share in costs and taxes. As it is, many illegal migrant workers are transferring a proportionately larger portion of their income abroad than they would if they paid a more realistic cost of their stay in Libya.
