THE ISSUE
In 2018, an estimated 600,000 migrants in Libya were victims of human rights violations
These violated rights include, but are not limited to:
– The right not to be subjected to torture or ill-treatment
– The right to an adequate standard of living
– The right to health
– The right against arbitrary arrests and detention
These horrifying violations in Libya, both within and outside of the state’s care, are varied and extensive. They mainly occur in 3 primary locations: refugee detention centers, in the cities, and at sea.
Detention Centers
Thousands migrants in Libya are held in government-run detention centers where they face inhumane, abusive conditions without adequate nutrition, health, or sanitary care. Detainees are beaten indiscriminately, sold into slave labor, tortured with electric shocks, and women experience high rates of sexual violence from the guards.
Health issues are rampant, exacerbated by COVID-19. Under Libyan law, migrants can be detained indefinitely without access to a lawyer, leaving migrants trapped in conditions that have been compared to concentration camps by both German diplomats and the current Pope Francis.
Inside the Centers
Aliou Candé, a 28 year old migrant from Guinea Bissau arrived at the Al Mabani detention center in Tripoli, Libya on Feb 5, 2021. He was intercepted by the Libyan Coast Guard attempting to cross the Mediterranean into Europe to reunite with his brothers and brought back to Libya. He was not charged with a crime or allowed to speak with a lawyer. He had no idea how long he was to be detained for.
Candé describes the center as having about 1500 migrants total inside of 8 cells. There was a toilet for every 100 people, meaning that many migrants, including himself had to urinate in a water-bottles, or defecate in the showers. Migrants were given thin pads to sleep on, but without enough to go around people had to take turns using them. Some detainees fought over who could sleep in the shower, as it had better ventilation.
Representatives from an aid group estimated that there was about 3 migrants per square meter in this center.
Source: The New Yorker
Twice a day, the migrants would be marched single-file into the courtyard where they could not speak or even move to look up at the sky. Guards would put communal food bowls on the ground that migrants would then gather around to eat.
Cande’s story began like many other migrants, with dreams of finding stability in Europe so he could provide for his family. A devout Muslim, he felt he was failing to provide for his family. He was encouraged to go to Europe to be with his brothers, and his family at home would help take care of his children along with his wife. He left on September 13th, 2019 with these final parting words to his wife:
“I don’t know how long this will take, but I love you and I’ll be back.”
Aliou Candé
Candé ended up experiencing many of the same trials that other migrants face: fear, violence, and a violation of his human rights. His ending wasn’t one of success like his brothers, or other migrants that make it into Europe, though. Candé met his end within the sanctioned violence inside the detention centers.
At 2 A.M. on April 8th, 2021 a fight broke out in Candé’s cell. Several detainees were attempting to escape, a futile attempt that would usually end in the migrants getting beaten by the guards. When other detainees attempted to stop those attempting to escape because of this eventual punishment, they were attacked by those trying to escape. The violence increased, and the fighting lasted over 3 hours. During the conflict, migrants were yelling for the guards for assistance which never came, and instead were cheered on and filmed by the guards until 5:30 when they returned with semi-automatic rifles and fired through the bathroom window for 10 minutes. During the conflict, Candé had been hiding in the shower, hoping to avoid any violence as he still recognized his role as provider for his family.
Candé was struck in the neck by a bullet, and died within minutes.
You can read more about Candé’s story and these detention centers here.
Protests Within Detention Centers
There have been multiple protests within these detention centers across the country in response to the inhumane treatment within these centers.
These protests range from sit-ins to hunger strikes in an attempt to ensure their safety, appealing to powerful groups such as the UN that they believe can make a difference.
In the City
Refugees that are not inside detention centers live in Libyan cities, avoiding the security forces that may send them to these centers.
“Many people, we don’t know where they went, they tried to escape from the police. We won’t go outside here because a lot of people have died here but we don’t know what to do. If they go into the street you can be kidnapped and told to pay money.”
Eritrean refugee in Libya
Tripoli, Libya’s capital, houses the majority of these refugees. Movement within this city, and other Libyan cities for migrants is very difficult though, as many describe countless security checkpoints and city-wide crackdowns that lead to migrants being put in detention centers.
“Today, we are almost 30 in my house, and we are doing our best to provide food to everyone, but we’re running out of money and supplies,”
Fatima, a Sudanese asylum-seeker in Libya
Those stuck in the cities have little choice
The multitude of threats surrounding those inside Tripoli and other Libyan cities leave the asylum-seeking population with little choice. Either stay in the city and risk being caught and placed into detention centers, and from there face further danger of violence, or attempt to leave the city by sea and attempt to reach Europe.
At Sea
Smugglers charge around $2,000 per person to attempt to reach Italy or Malta on the other side of the Mediterranean, a price that migrants continue to pay in desperate attempts to leave detention centers and cities. Many are stuck in a perpetual cycle of paying someone to secure release from a detention center or the streets of Tripoli, paying for a sea crossing attempt, becoming intercepted at sea and then being subsequently return to harsh and violent detention.
“I will try the sea again and again. I’ve got nothing to lose.”
Darfurian Refugee in Libya
Those that attempt to cross the Mediterranean are at risk of either being caught by the Libyan Coast Guard (LCG), or drowning. Over 11,000 refugees in 2020 alone were caught at sea by the LCG, who are then subjected to “enforced disappearances, indefinite and arbitrary detention, torture, forced labor and extortion.”
It’s not just the threat of detention centers that make being caught by the LCG so terrifying, but the threat of what can happen if you aren’t returned to these centers. In the first 7 months of 2021, more than 15,000 migrants were captured by the LCG, but only 6,000 actually made it to the detention centers. In Federico Soda’s best guess, these remaining migrants are taken to unofficial facilities run by traffickers and militias with potential to lead to human trafficking and forced labor.
It’s not just Libya, but Italy and the EU as well.
One of the main facilitating factors of these violations at sea are European Union and Italian immigration policies and their desire to keep African refugees out of Europe.
The legal basis for the preventative policies keeping refugees out of the European continent through the Mediterranean is the 2017 Libyan-Italian Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). A document that has full support of the European Union.
Within the MOU, the Italy undertakes to provide support to both the Libyan Boarder and Coast Guards, who are notorious human right violators. Italy also funds the Libyan detention centers using EU funds, another location of major human rights violations. The EU has also officially endorsed the MOU and agreed to aid Italy in training and equipping the LCG which includes the adoption of a 46-million-euro program to improve the Boarder and Coast Guards.
“The reduction of migrants into Europe has been achieved at the price of their [migrant’s] human rights”
Marina Mancini
Money given to Libya by the EU is often framed as conditionality-free aid aimed to improve the lives of refugees within Libya, but the actual purpose is much less altruistic. European countries are able to mitigate the flow of African migrants to their countries while passing off legal and social responsibility to the Libyan government and its enterprises.
While it is the Libyan Coast Guard, and the Libyan detention centers that actually commit these human rights violations, it is the European funds and neglect that make it possible.
“The goal of the program is clear: Make Libya the bad guy. Make Libya the disguise for their policies while the good humans of Europe say they are offering money to help make this hellish system safer.”
Salah Marghani
Libyan Migrant Project 