Democracy & Justice

EU Complicit in Human Rights Abuses in Libya

A new report by Human Rights Watch accuses the EU of supporting Libya’s anti-migrant policies, which are contributing to a cycle of “extreme abuse”, including arbitrary detention, torture, sexual violence, extortion...

by LibertiesEU
Refugees wait at the Tariq al-Matar detention centre, on the outskirts of Tripoli. Photograph: Taha Jawashi/AFP/Getty Images

A new report by Human Rights Watch accuses the EU of supporting Libya’s anti-migrant policies, which are contributing to a cycle of “extreme abuse”, including arbitrary detention, torture, sexual violence, extortion and forced labour. “The EU is providing support to the Libyan Coast Guard to enable it to intercept migrants and asylum seekers at sea after which they take them back to Libya to arbitrary detention,” Although this has been well explained to EU officials, they have repeatedly failed to act. Italy, in particular, has been accused of “abdicat[ing] virtually all responsibility.”

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