A group of 15 civil society organisations (CSOs) has warned of the deteriorating situation of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in Libya and the worrying shrinking civic space in the country.
Development Diaries reports that the group, including Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), Aman Against Discrimination (AAD), Defender Center for Human Rights, World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), and Refugees in Libya, noted concerns about the country’s general climate of impunity and lack of accountability.
Other members of the group are Adala For All (AFA), Belaady Organisation for Human Rights, EuroMed Rights, Independent Organisation for Human Rights, Libya Al Mostakbal, Libyan Center for Freedom of Press, Libyan Crimes Watch, Libyan Network for Legal Aid, Un Ponte Per (UPP), and Youth Gathering for Tawargha.
They noted that the volatile situation is further hampered by the shrinking of civic space, especially through the criminalisation of activists and the crackdown on CSOs.
‘We, activists and members of civil society organisations working on ongoing human rights violations against migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in Libya express our deep concern regarding the general climate of impunity and lack of accountability in the country’, they said in a statement.
Regarding the deteriorating situation of migrants in Libya, the organisations noted that in the last six years, since the Italy-Libya Memorandum of Understanding was signed, almost 185,000 people have been intercepted at sea by the Libyan Coast Guard and brought back to detention centres in Libya.
The group said that in these centres, which are at the hands of violent militias, they are at high risk of being subjected to mistreatments, forced labour, rape, torture and trafficking.
The organisations also accused the European Union (EU) and its member states of developing externalisation policies that indirectly support the Libyan Coast Guard.
They called on Libyan authorities to open serious investigations into human rights violations and implement the UN Fact-Finding Mission’s recommendations.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in a 2022 report, revealed gaps in the human rights protection of migrants who are assisted to return from Libya to their countries of origin.
According to the UN agency, while such returns were in principle ‘voluntary’, many migrants in Libya were unable to make a truly voluntary decision to return in accordance with international human rights law and standards, including the principle of free, prior and informed consent.
It was gathered that migrants were frequently compelled to accept assisted return to escape abusive detention conditions and other human rights violations, or because they were effectively denied access to safe and regular protection pathways, including asylum.
Freedom House ranked Libya as ‘not free’ in its 2023 Freedom in the World study of political rights and civil liberties, with the Maghreb country earning nine points out of a potential 100.
Development Diaries believes that widespread human rights violations against migrants in Libya are compounded by the lack of pathways to protection within and outside the country.
As called for by the 15 CSOs, we urge the EU and member states to reinforce safe and legal pathways for migration to the EU, as well as press Libyan authorities to fully respect the guarantees of the right to freedom of association.
Source: CIHRS
Photo source: Óglaigh na hÉireann
