Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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February 17, 2026 Refugees and migrants
Migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in Libya face "merciless and systematic human rights violations," including killings, torture, sexual violence, and human trafficking, said Tamin Al-Khitan, spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), presenting a new report in Geneva.
The document was prepared by OHCHR jointly with the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and covers the period from January 2024 to December 2025.
Exploitation of vulnerable people
According to Al-Khitan, the report describes how migrants are "detained and abducted by criminal networks involved in human trafficking, often linked to the Libyan authorities and foreign criminal organizations." People are separated from their families, arrested, and held without due process, which effectively amounts to arbitrary detention.
“In places of detention, migrants are regularly subjected to appalling violations and abuses, including slavery, torture, ill-treatment, forced labor, forced prostitution and other forms of sexual violence, extortion and blackmail,” the UN representative said.
The report says an "exploitative model" has emerged that exploits the vulnerable position of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees and has become a "cruel and normalised reality".
Dangerous interceptions and forced returns
Migrants also spoke of "horrific attempts" cross the central Mediterranean SeaAccording to Al-Khitan, interceptions by Libyan authorities are often accompanied by threats, dangerous maneuvers, and excessive use of force, putting lives at risk. Those intercepted are often forcibly returned to Libya, where they once again face the same cycle of violence and exploitation.
Suki Nagra, a human rights expert with the UN Mission in Libya, joined the briefing remotely. She shared examples of testimonies documented in the report. Specifically, a Nigerian woman who became a victim of human trafficking in 2021 spent two years in Tripoli under forced sexual exploitation. After a police raid, she was transferred to a house in Zuwarah, where she found herself in a situation of domestic servitude, without freedom of movement or pay. In February 2025, she managed to leave Libya.
“There are no words to describe the endless nightmare these people are plunged into, only to fuel the growing greed of traffickers and those who profit from the system of exploitation,” Al-Khitan emphasized.
Collective expulsions
The report also condemns the frequent expulsion of migrants from Libya to other countries without consideration of their individual circumstances. This practice violates the prohibition on collective expulsions and deprives people of the right to apply for asylum, the authors of the document recall.
The UN Human Rights Office has called on the Libyan authorities to immediately release all persons arbitrarily detained in both formal and informal centres, to end dangerous interceptions at sea, and to decriminalise entry, stay, and exit without proper documentation.
In addition, the international community, including the European Union, is recommended to impose a moratorium on interceptions and returns to Libya until adequate human rights guarantees are ensured in that country.
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