IS - everyone's enemy

Beheading of Coptic Christians: From a human interest perspective, the killings reiterate the vulnerability of poor migrant workers in the region.

The video-recorded beheading of 21 Egyptians – all poor migrant workers – by a group aligned with the Islamic State (IS) in Libya a few days ago is not the first, and may not be the last, attack on Christians in West Asia and Africa.

It reflects a new strategy of radical Islamic groups – including Boko Haram in Nigeria – that are looking for non-Muslim targets nearer home rather than focus only on Western governments, hostages and targets to carve and expand their own ideological, political and territorial space.

The IS and its affiliates’ approach in recent months raises questions and mandates analysis at several levels – the recent tactics that seem to be focused more on expanding territory, even if it means adopting barbaric methods and inviting more hate than support; the growing lawlessness in Libya; and the failure of the Arab uprisings.

From a human interest perspective, however, the killings first reiterate the vulnerability of poor migrant workers in the region, especially North Africa. It also highlights how poverty drives workers to risk danger. It is true that Egyptians have been travelling to the neighbouring countries for work long before the current chaos set in the region, but it has increased following instability in Egypt since 2011.

It is important to note that the people who were beheaded belonged to the most destitute underclass. They were uneducated people from south Egypt working in Libya’s construction companies for low wages, but better than what was on offer in their own country.

The class factor is important because unlike Egyptian expatriates in the Gulf countries, where many of them are semi-skilled or professionally qualified, Egyptian workers in Libya are mostly unskilled. It is estimated that about two million Egyptians work in Libya. With the IS expanding in Libya, being Christian and poor add to the woes of the Egyptian Copts, who are often left with few choices but to risk their lives by working abroad to eke out a living.

Cairo has now banned Egyptians from travelling to and working in Libya. But, going by past incidents all over the world, it is not hard to guess if poor migrants will heed such restrictions.

This is evident from the repeated drowning of illegal migrants from the African continent trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea, most often after being duped by traffickers. This means that along with combatting criminals and radical groups, governments of underdeveloped and developing countries also need to focus on economic development, job creation and poverty alleviation.

Second, the IS and its affiliates have now made it a habit to intersperse their killing of Western (and even Japanese) hostages and Arab Shiites with murdering Christians and even Sunni Muslims, a sect that it professes to champion.

The IS published a report claiming that the Egyptian workers, termed as “Coptic crusaders”, were captured in Libya’s Sitre between December and January to “avenge the kidnapping of Muslim women by the Egyptian Coptic Church”.

In the past, the group has also claimed responsibility for the bombing of the Baghdad church in 2010, which killed at least 58 people. In Libya too, the bodies of seven Christians were found near Benghazi last year.

The Lebanese army is also battling IS militants in the eastern part of the country, which have Christian-majority villages. The beheading of Egyptian Coptic Christians came two weeks after the IS released a video showing the burning alive of a Jordanian pilot it captured after his plane crashed in Syria in December.

These IS actions – which started in Iraq and now spreads across swathes of Syria, including along the Turkish border, and Libya – have meant that apart from facing Western military action, many of the Arab governments and Muslims in general are also at war with the militant group.

Military retaliation

Egypt and Jordan are retaliating militarily against the IS to avenge the death of their citizens, the Iraqi army is on the march trying to regain lost ground, and the UAE and Saudi governments are pouring in military and financial assistance to curtail the group’s growth. Simultaneously, its growth in Libya has raised new fears of the IS knocking on Europe’s doorstep, which may lead to intensified US and European military action.

This leads us to the third dimension of the beheadings – the state of affairs in Libya since the Arab uprising-induced fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The North African country is caught in a free-for-all power struggle between two rival factions operating their own governments, which is facilitating the growth of the IS and its affiliates.

A preliminary report released last week by the United Nations Human Rights Office said the country is beset by turmoil, lawlessness and armed conflict. It said civilians were victims of indiscriminate artillery and air attacks, and unlawful killings and summary executions, including targeted assassinations, were common. These findings dash the hope for any improvement in the ground realities of the country and the region.

Finally, the three dimensions discussed above leads us to a tragic conclusion – failure of the Arab uprisings. Despite change of governments in several countries, lawlessness and political instability reign instead of democracy and egalitarianism.

Worse, there has been little or no economic relief for the people, which was their primary aspiration, even though the Arab uprisings wore a political garb. Worst though, the IS has tapped these vulnerabilities to spread hatred and extremism, which is claiming the lives of ordinary folks.

(The writer is a Dubai-based political analyst and honorary fellow of the University of Exeter, UK)