UN Concerned Over Detention of Migrants in Libya

The United Nations Mission in Libya expressed its concern today, Monday, regarding the arbitrary detention of migrants and asylum seekers in the country, alongside what it described as a disturbing rise in hate and racist speech. The mission stated that Libyan authorities had arrested thousands of men, women, and children from the streets and their homes, or following raids on camps and warehouses belonging to traffickers. It noted that a large number of them, including children and pregnant women, had been detained in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, adding that thousands more, some of whom entered Libya legally, were subjected to mass expulsions. Last week, authorities in eastern Libya deported thousands of migrants to Egypt, forcing them to cross the border on foot. Recently, the immigration police began to spread in Tripoli around a main road where many migrants gather daily in search of livelihood.