The UN has accused Britain and other countries backing Libyan forces of “turning a blind eye to the unimaginable horrors endured by migrants” in efforts to stem the refugee crisis, INDEPENDENT reports.
Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the situation for thousands of migrants detained in Libya was “deteriorating fast” as EU member states increase support for fragile authorities in the war-torn country.
“The suffering of migrants detained in Libya is an outrage to the conscience of humanity,” he said.
The Ministry of Defence is training members of the force, which stands accused of beating and shooting migrants, causing fatal sinkings and attacking international rescue ships.
Some Libyan officials are also taking bribes to free detained migrants who then attempt crossings for a second time, The Independent revealed last month”.
According to Libya’s Department of Combatting Illegal Migration (DCIM), 19,900 people are being held in facilities under its control, up from about 7,000 in September, when authorities detained thousands of migrants following fighting between militias and smugglers in Sabratha.
Thousands more are being held by armed groups running rampant across lawless swathes of the country, seeing gangs extract profit by ransoming migrants or forcing into labour, prostitution or other forms of modern slavery.