On 17 February, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) and the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) published a joint report documenting ‘ruthless and systematic’ human rights violations and abuses against migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers in Libya. According to the report, migrants are rounded up and abducted by criminal trafficking networks, often with ties to the Libyan authorities, and criminal networks abroad, before being transferred to detention facilities without due process, often at gunpoint. In detention, these migrants are ‘routinely subjected to horrific violations and abuses, including slavery, torture, ill-treatment, forced labour, forced prostitution and other forms of sexual violence, ransom, extortion, as well as the confiscation and re-sale of their belongings and identification documents,’ the report has found.
Read the full report here.