Amnesty International stated on Thursday (July 14) that migrants detained in Libyan detention camps suffered terrible sexual violence at the hands of guards, including being forced to exchange sex for clean water, food and sanitation.
The report focuses on migrants intercepted in the Mediterranean and disembarked in Libya in 2020 and 2021, and the report shows that despite being recently placed under the control of the Libyan Ministry of Interior, conditions in refugee camps are still deteriorating.
After today’s statistics show that the number of deaths at sea trying to reach Europe has increased significantly, tomorrow we will publish a report on the cruel behavior of the Libyan Coast Guard and the appalling abuse of immigrants detained in Libya.
Advance copy: media@amnesty.org.uk pic.twitter.com/cexHOCelqF
— News from Amnesty (@NewsFromAmnesty) July 14, 2021
Pope Francis and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for their closure.
The camp guard said: “Maybe you want fresh water and a bed… let me have sex with you so I can release you,” a woman told Amnesty International, one of them said that the guard inside raped or forced the woman to happen. Sex in exchange for their release or clean water.
The findings came from interviews with 53 refugees and immigrants between the ages of 14 and 50. They came from countries such as Nigeria, Somalia and Syria. Most of them were still in Libya and were able to escape refugee camps or use the phone.
Some pregnant women in the camp told Amnesty International that they had been raped by guards many times, while men said they were forced to wear only underwear in an attempt to humiliate them. Others, including boys, described being groped, stimulated, and violated.
Since 2017, multiple reports of beatings, torture, and lack of sanitation and food have led to inhuman treatment.
Amnesty International stated that the Libyan Coast Guard, funded by the European Union, intercepted about 15,000 people at sea and repatriated them to Libya in the first six months of this year, more than 2020. Although the data is unreliable, Amnesty International stated that about 6,100 people were moved to the camp at the end of June.
Although after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, as part of the UN-supported peace plan, the warring factions in Libya have ceased fighting since October, but armed groups still hold power in the local area and some control immigration camps.
Some EU lawmakers urged the European Commission to stop funding the Coast Guard, saying that Libya is not a “safe country” for immigrants.
