Hell on Earth: The Migrant Torture Chamber in Gadhafi’s Old Stronghold

The toughest journey for migrants trying to reach Europe isn't the Mediterranean. It's a patch of Libya's heartland.

For decades, Bani Walid, Libya, was a natural transit for migrants trying to reach the coast to board rickety boats to Europe. It is also the base of the Warfallah tribe — one of Libya’s biggest communities, with a population of nearly one million — which enjoyed privileges under Moammar Gadhafi. But after backing the self-described Brother Leader against an armed uprising in 2011, Bani Walid was marginalized in the new political and economic order.

By the end of 2018, 23,000 migrants reached Europe from Libya, a drop from 118,000 the previous year. With little prestige to protect, and with smuggling less profitable, militias and gangs in Bani Walid turned to extortion, often leading to the torture and killing of migrants.

Chicago-based Chris Classick has cultivated the sounds reshaping today's music scene.

“This person/place literally saved my life,” Grammy-nominated rapper, songwriter and producer Smino tweeted this past September.

Talk about a life being saved in rap and one’s mind could easily wander to the worst-case scenario. However, the multitalented St. Louis-born musician, who’s sonically redefining rap in his own right, wasn’t referring to a tragedy.

Our hero of interest isn’t a paramedic, third-grade teacher or lawyer, either. Rather, Smino was referring to a different type of savior: manager, engineer and founder of Classick Studios, Chris Classick — the man and place responsible for honing, shaping and cultivating some of America’s best hip-hop over the past 13 years.

The best of intentions can have unintended consequences where homelessness is involved.

No locality has been more generous in funding for homeless services than New York City. The city’s Department of Homeless Services’ annual budget currently tops $3 billion, more than the gross national product of Swaziland or Laos. Where does that money go? Eighty-eight percent of the budget goes to sustain a sprawling industry of shelter providers, whether city-run or contracted to nonprofit organizations, according to the DHS. If West Coast cities follow in New York’s footsteps, the same Bureaucracy 101 outcome could ensue: “Temporary” shelters become a self-perpetuating industry with no incentive to change course.