Source: UN News: Saturday, February 21, 2026 00:01 AM
Migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers living in Libya continue to face brutal and systematic human rights violations, including murder, torture, sexual violence and human trafficking, a new report from the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) says. The report, which covers the period from January 2024 to December 2025, shows that an exploitative system has developed in Libya that targets people trapped in extremely vulnerable situations and makes profits from them. The report calls this a “cruel and normalized reality” that is no longer the exception, but has become the daily norm there. “A journey like hell.”OHCHR According to the report, based on interviews with nearly 100 migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers from 16 countries in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, a horrific picture of kidnappings, arbitrary detentions and horrific violence has emerged. An Eritrean woman, who was held captive for six weeks in a trafficking base in Libya’s eastern Tobruk region, said, “I wish I was dead… This whole journey was like hell.” She reported being raped multiple times and witnessed sexual violence against girls as young as 14. The woman was released after her family paid a ransom. Several victims also reported being gang-beaten, tortured, and subjected to sexual violence. According to the report’s findings, criminal gangs detain migrants and send them to detention centers without due process of law. They also reportedly have links to some Libyan officials. Additionally, many face serious torture, including slavery, forced labour, forced prostitution, and the confiscation of their belongings and identity documents and extortion for their return. Tweet URL
The actions by Libyan parties to intercept migrants at sea are often violent and extremely dangerous, using excessive force and reckless tactics. During this time, those captured are forcibly returned to Libya, where they face the same cycle of exploitation and violence. The appalling form of greed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said that due to the greed of smugglers and those in power, people It is difficult to describe in words the endless dreadful situation in which we are being pushed. to libya UN Secretary General Hana Tetteh, the Special Representative of the United Nations, said this exploitative ‘business model’ targets those caught in the most vulnerable situations, and that detention centers have become dens of human rights abuses. Both senior officials stressed the need to strengthen life-saving search and rescue operations at sea, and urged the European Union and other international partners to protect people in detention centers until stronger human rights protections are in place. The process of forced deportation to Libya must be stopped. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said that the suffering of migrants and refugees in Libya must now be ended and their rights and dignity must be protected, which is an essential obligation under international law.