'When I got inside the airport, security guards began to beat the crowds back with batons'

Christine works for an international hotel chain and was transferred to Libya five years ago. Although she was sceptical at the time, once her husband Roger - former Sliema Wanderers midfielder - and two young sons, Jacob, 13, and Sam, 11, came to join her, the family seemed content and spent five happy years together before the unrest began.

The Walkers had become settled in Libya and both Christine and Roger feel more at home in Libya.

“The people in Libya are so friendly. They are definitely more helpful, supportive and hospitable than your average European,” Christine begins.

Fleeing from Libya was a traumatic experience for the family. “We just had to up and leave everything. Our home, clothes, money, even our dog had to stay behind. Once the school closed on Sunday we knew that we couldn’t stay.

“We were planning a holiday to Malta to visit the family at the end of the week, so it was relatively easy for us to change our flights to Tuesday – the day we decided to leave. However, we couldn’t change them directly from Libya, due to computer failure, and had to get family to change them from the Malta office.

Over the weekend the situation in Tripoli deteriorated fast and the family did stray far from their home, except to see how they were going to get to the airport on Tuesday.  However a neighbour reported the situation to them saying that roads were blocked with burning tyres. Gunshots were heard throughout the city and stores and banks were all closed.

“There are people who idolise Gaddafi and to them the man can do no wrong. However there are others who hate him and will not rest until he is out. I cannot accurately say how evenly this is distributed throughout the country though, as we were only exposed to one small area.”

Communication broke down slowly over the weekend. “Youtube has not been accessible for about a year and a half after Hannibal, one of Gaddafi’s sons, was depicted negatively in Switzerland. Facebook was the first to go some time over the weekend, followed by one of the two phone companies (Madar). The Libyana phone company remained active and some form of internet was maintained, though was heavily disrupted.

“Although we are registered with the Maltese embassy they were unable to contact us and we had to make our own way home. On arriving in Malta however we did see that emails had been sent, though we never got them in time.

“Though we have been in contact with our expatriate friends who have left Libya we still haven’t heard any news from our Libyan friends who remained in the country.

The mass exodus of people trying to leave the country made the trip home difficult, as people and suitcases cluttered the airport making it impossible to get from one place to another.

“The experience at the airport was a nightmare. There was a sea of people pushing to get through the doors. When I managed to get through the doors with the children the doors were closed and security guards began to beat the crowds back with batons. Roger had not been able to get through the doors and I lost sight of him. A security guard heard my frantic cries and tried to help me find him, though we still couldn’t see him.

“Just as I was beginning to panic I saw his head bobbing up and down above the crowd and the security guard made a path for him to get inside.

“The whole ordeal took about seven hours, though we got through quickly compared to other Maltese who were waiting at the airport for 48 hours. The plane was two hours late, however everything just took such a long time. Getting from one place to the next took forever.

“It was a relief to have finally arrived in Malta. However now we are just sitting tight and waiting for our lives to go back to normal. Some good news is that the children start school again on Wednesday. That is one of the major concerns facing parents that have been displaced.”

The boys are attending St Edwards College who have offered their service to any families affected by the unrest – Libyans or families who have been evacuated from Libya. Fees are also paid on a week-by-week basis so that as soon as families wish to return to Libya they can do so without foregoing school fees for the rest of the year.

Another concern is that of money and employment. When the Walkers left Libya they were unable to take any money with them as banks were closed. “Even if we had, the Libyan dinar is almost worthless. I am currently on vacation leave but I don’t really know what is going to happen. If this is a long, drawn out process I do not expect the company to keep paying our salaries.

“In so far as getting temporary job with another hotel, I’m not really sure that this is an option as hotels in Malta are concerned about the effect the Libyan situation is going to have on occupancy. Tourists may shy away from Malta due to proximity to Libya.”

Christine is also exasperated by the often racist comments about Libyans that have surfaced, especially online, during this crisis.

“I am disgusted at the attitude Libyan people are treated with by the Maltese population. There is a case of xenophobia in Malta that maybe stems from the type of Libyans that used to come to Malta in the past. Unfortunately a number of criminally linked Libyans used Malta as a stepping-stone to traffic drugs into Europe and many Libyans that came over had a criminal record.  But there are plenty of well-educated Libyans and the majority of them are kind and generous people, and these have made our experience in Libya a wonderful one.”

Christine argues that most Libyans are very patriotic and do not wish to stay in other countries.

“The Maltese should not be afraid of mass migration. There are a number of Libyans trying to flee Libya at the moment due to the unrest but I have no doubt that they will return if Gaddafi is removed from power as this is their homeland.”

As for their own return, this is not in any doubt. Though grateful to be safe and away from the unrest for the moment and spending quality time with family they are anxious to return to Libya for their lives to return normal.

“We are definitely going back. We are just waiting for the dust to settle.”