MIGRANTS and refugees heading to Europe are “systematically subjected to a litany of abuses” from the moment they enter Libya, the UN warned today.

A fact-finding report commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council and published today states that “the violence that has plagued Libya since 2011, and which has continued almost unabated since 2016, has enabled the commission of serious violations, abuses and crimes, including crimes against humanity and war crimes, against the most vulnerable.”

The report also warned that the EU-supported Libyan coastguards ensure that the people they intercept in the Mediterranean are returned to detention centres where “they face intolerable conditions calculated to cause suffering and the desire to utilise any means of escape — including by paying large sums of money to militias, criminal gangs, traffickers and smugglers who have links to the state and profit from this practice.”

The authors describe the coastguard’s interceptions at sea as “violent, reckless and occasionally resulting in deaths.”

Once disembarked, the report says, “migrants are either transferred to detention centres or go missing, with reports that people are sold to traffickers.

“Interviews with migrants formerly held in [official] detention centres established that all migrants — men and women, boys and girls — are kept in harsh conditions, some of whom die. Some children are held with adults, placing them at high risk of abuse.

“Torture, such as electric shocks, and sexual violence, including rape and forced prostitution, are prevalent.

Over 5,000 migrants and refugees have been rounded up in Tripoli by the Libyan authorities since last Friday and placed in detention centres, the International Organisation for Migration warned on Sunday.

“On October 1, 2021, Libyan authorities conducted a widespread security operation in the Hai Alandalus municipality that included raids on houses and temporary accommodations used by migrants and asylum-seekers, specifically affecting those present in the area of Gargarish,” the organisation said in a situation report.  

“This has adversely affected the situation of migrants in the area resulting in loss of life, casualties, and mass detention.

“One migrant was reported to have lost their life, while at least 15 others were injured, six seriously so, including two referred to intensive care.”