Thursday

1st Jun 2023

Migrants paying to get detained in Libyan centres

  • People are now paying to get detained despite risks of slavery and rape (Photo: UNHCR.org)

Hundreds of people over the past two to three months have paid to get locked up in Libyan detention centres in the hope of resettlement to Europe, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

"There are people who pay traffickers to go to detention centres, that is the reality today," Vincent Cochetel, the UNHCR special envoy for the central Mediterranean, told reporters earlier this week in Brussels.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Despite the risks of rape, slavery or worse, many believe that their chances of making it to Europe are increased once inside the notorious centres.

The agency says others have also told them that they feel more secure inside the detention centres given the spiralling conflict in Tripoli, where darker-skinned Africans appear especially targeted.

"The darker your skin is, the less you speak Arabic, the more likely you could be abducted," Cochetel said of those outside the centres, noting around one million Libyans have fled to Tunisia.

Cochetel said those paying to get detained are being encouraged by traffickers and others in the false hope they will quickly be identified by the UNHCR and then sent off to Europe or elsewhere.

Their hopes are quickly dashed once they realise that registration with the agency does not mean resettlement.

Libya's UN-backed government of national accord does not officially recognise refugees. It also has a policy of arbitrarily locking up migrants.

Around 4,500 people are currently spread around some 19 detention centres in Libya. Of those, some 2,500 are asylum seekers under UNHCR's watch.

Cochetel said efforts are now underway to dispel the notion that being detained equates to resettlements.

Of all its resettlements from Libya, the agency takes around 80 percent from people inside detention centres and the remainder from outside.

"We would like to balance it very quickly to 50/50, so people don't think it is better to go to detention centres," he said.

Some are first sent to Niger or Rwanda before leaving for Europe or elsewhere. But the agency said it is also being squeezed by the lack of pledges from EU states when it comes to getting people out of the country.

Although Libya has a rough estimate of 46,000 refugee and asylum seekers, only around 2,400 pledges for resettlement have so far been made for 2020.

Of those, Italy is the only EU state to have come forward with 130 spots directly from Libya.

Some 15,000 people have so far this year attempted to leave the Libyan coast by boat to Europe. Over half have been intercepted by a Libyan coast guard that is part financed by the European Union and Italy.

Around one-third of those attempts were made by people from Sudan, followed by Bangladeshi and other nationalities.

The spike of Sudanese nationals may be linked to the insufficient aid and broader lack of hope among the some 390,000 found in refugee camps in Chad.

"Many young people they don't see any prospect for living in those camps for another decade. Many prefer to go to Libya to look for a job even if they know they could run into trouble," said Cochetel.

EU dismisses UN call to stop migrant returns to Libya

As the death toll of the Tajoura detention centre airstrike reached 53, including six children, the UN called for a halt to returning people to Libya. The EU - which is helping fund the Libyan coastguard - said no.

Opinion

Libyan lawyers: EU is complicit in torture

While an end to detention is necessary, particularly for those intercepted at sea and returned to centres, this alone will not make Libya a safe country. No one should be returned to Libya until the rule of law is restored.

Libya: EU first sends migrants back, then deplores deaths

Some 40 died following an attack at a Libyan prison, where people hoping to reach Europe are locked up. The EU commission wants an investigation but remains silent on how it trains Libyans to return rescued migrants to the country.

Opinion

Lessons from Vučjak migrant camp in Bosnia & Herzegovina

Last week, the Vučjak camp in northwest Bosnia and Herzegovina was finally closed. Termed "The Jungle" by people who were living there, the camp had no running water, no electricity, no usable toilets, and mouldy, leaking, and overcrowded tents.

Investigation

Data watchdog raps EU asylum body for snooping

The European Asylum Support Office combed through social media to monitor refugee routes to Europe for three years. The agency sent weekly reports on its findings to member states, the EU Commission and institutions such as UNHCR and Interpol.

Latest News

  1. EU data protection chief launches Frontex investigation
  2. Madrid steps up bid to host EU anti-money laundering hub
  3. How EU leaders should deal with Chinese government repression
  4. MEPs pile on pressure for EU to delay Hungary's presidency
  5. IEA: World 'comfortably' on track for renewables target
  6. Europe's TV union wooing Lavrov for splashy interview
  7. ECB: eurozone home prices could see 'disorderly' fall
  8. Adapting to Southern Europe's 'new normal' — from droughts to floods

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. InformaConnecting Expert Industry-Leaders, Top Suppliers, and Inquiring Buyers all in one space - visit Battery Show Europe.
  2. EFBWWEFBWW and FIEC do not agree to any exemptions to mandatory prior notifications in construction
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us