European countries slammed by Amnesty International for “horrific” migrant abuse

July 15, 2021: Amnesty International has condemned “horrific violations” of refugees returning to Libya in co-operation with European states after attempts to cross the Mediterranean.

The rights group said on Thursday that new evidence of “harassment, including sexual violence against men, women and children” had been found at sea and that migrants had been forcibly returned to the North African country’s detention centers.

In a 50-page report (PDF), Amnesty International condemned the “ongoing activities of European states” in cooperating with the authorities in war-torn Libya. By the end of 2020, Libya’s Directorate of Illegal Migration had justified its actions by seizing two detention centers run by armed groups, from which hundreds of refugees and migrants had been forcibly disappeared. The report states that one of these facilities is the Shara al-Zawiya center in Tripoli. Pope Francis and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have called for the facilities to be closed.

Testimony from survivors

Amnesty testified about survivors of a bodyguard facility that sexually assaulted women in exchange for “their release or supplies such as clean water” One said she was severely beaten for refusing to comply with such a demand, saying: “I did not tell [the guard]. He turned his shotgun on himself when apprehended by a police officer on the porch of the house where the shootings took place. He used a leather soldier’s shoe to kick me in the back.

Amnesty said that as a result of such abuse, two young women in the facility attempted suicide. Boys, including others, who have been subjected to groping and prodding.

The results came from interviews with 53 refugees and migrants, aged between 14 and 50, from countries such as Nigeria, Somalia and Syria, most of whom were still in Libya and were successful in fleeing the camps or had telephone access.

Amnesty also examined documents, photos and videos from Libyan officials and the United Nations.

Europe’s shameful role as enabler

Italy and the European Union have for years provided financial support, training and assistance to the Coast Guard to prevent migrants and refugees from being transported to Europe in crowded old boats across the Mediterranean. Despite sinking into chaos since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s government in 2011, Libya has become a favorite springboard for immigrants to find a better life in Europe. Some are fleeing conflict or oppression, while hundreds of thousands are fleeing poverty.

UN agencies and NGOs working in the Mediterranean regularly condemn European migration policies. Amnesty’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, Diana Eltahawy, called the rights group’s new report “terrible.” “It sheds new light on the plight of those stranded at sea and they returned to Libya, where they were immediately detained and subjected to regular torture, sexual abuse, forced labor and other forms of exploitation.”

“European countries have continued to assist and assist Libyan coastguards in shamefully detaining people at sea and forcibly detaining them, yet they are fully aware that they will endure the terrible situation. “

ElTahawy said Libya’s detention network was “rotten in its core and should be dismantled.” Despite reconciliation between Libya’s warring factions since October as part of a UN-backed peace plan since the fall of Gaddafi in 2011, armed groups still hold sway over the ground, with some in refugee camps.

Since the onset of summer, the number of migrants has increased as migrants take advantage of good weather, but the number of people missing at sea has also increased.

According to the International Organization for Migration, about 900 migrants have died trying to reach Europe from North Africa this year. The UNHCR said the Coast Guard repatriated more than 13,000 people to Libya between January and June this year, surpassing the number for the whole of 2020.

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