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Ali Omar è ricercatore e responsabile di Libya Crimes Watch, organizzazione che documenta violazioni dei diritti umani, detenzioni arbitrarie e abusi commessi contro migranti, rifugiati e cittadini stranieri in Libia.
For almost twenty years, the country has been one of the main corridors for migratory routes in the Mediterranean and one of the most delicate files in relations between Europe and North Africa. In recent months, however, Libya has also come under the spotlight due to the growing climate of hostility towards migrants, refugees, and foreign citizens from the population. There has been an increase in intolerance, accompanied by political, media, and social campaigns that have pushed the migration issue to the top of public concerns.
As proof of this, in June The United Nations has expressed concern over the spread of hate speech and disinformation campaigns targeting migrants and refugees. after in Tripoli, during the same period, some protesters had blocked access to UNHCR offices, accusing the agency of favouring the permanent settlement of migrants in Libya and demanding their expulsion from the country.
A ciò si aggiunge una Libia profondamente divisa tra autorità rivali, gruppi armati e centri di potere che esercitano il controllo su porzioni diverse del territorio. Secondo l’Organizzazione internazionale per le migrazioni, nel Paese si trovano centinaia di migliaia di migranti provenienti da decine di nazionalità diverse e la rotta del Mediterraneo centrale continua a essere una delle più letali al mondo. Le conseguenze di questa instabilità ricadono innanzitutto sulle persone più fragili e abbandonate, ma finiscono per influenzare anche i rapporti tra la Libia, l’Europa e i Paesi della regione.
We interviewed Ali Omar to reconstruct the situation.
The living conditions for migrants and refugees in Libya today are extremely precarious. Many are held in detention centres, often overcrowded and unsanitary, where they face arbitrary detention, food and medical shortages, and violence. Others live in informal settlements or on the streets, with limited access to basic necessities like shelter, clean water, and healthcare. The deteriorating security situation in Libya, coupled with the breakdown of law and order, exacerbates these conditions, leaving migrants and refugees vulnerable to trafficking, exploitation, and abuse by armed groups and criminal networks. Access to asylum procedures is severely limited, and repatriation or resettlement options are scarce.
Currently, migrants in Libya are living in extremely precarious conditions, which have drastically worsened due to the recent wave of security force raids and mass arrest campaigns.
Since the beginning of June 2026, Libya Crimes Watch has been monitoring a sharp increase in grave human rights violations against migrants, refugees, asylum seekers Asylum and foreign workers, including arbitrary detentions, home invasions, forced evictions, physical and verbal assaults, and a significant increase in hate speech and incitement.
The human impact has been severe. Many migrants depend entirely on daily work for survival and have been forced to flee their workplaces and homes. Access to healthcare has encountered increasing difficulties, to the point where some migrants have reportedly been arrested while seeking medical care. We have also received information that private clinics in Tripoli have been pressured not to accept migrants reported by international organisations.
Finding accommodation has become extremely difficult, as landlords fear their properties could be searched if migrants are found living in them. It is important to stress that the arrest campaigns do not distinguish between legal and irregular migrants. Women, children, and people with pre-existing conditions have also been caught up in this.
A Sudanese victim told LCW that armed men broke into her home, assaulted several members of her family, including a sick relative, stole their belongings, and left them homeless and without the possibility of receiving aid.
Have there been changes along the main migration routes in recent months?
As often happens in the run-up to the summer season, new migratory routes are forming from Libya towards Europe.
In eastern Libya, new departure points have emerged around Tobruk and in the areas surrounding Benghazi and Derna. In western Libya, the main coastal departure points remain largely unchanged. However, overland routes from southern Libya to the coast have undergone significant changes due to intensified security operations against traffickers.
Consequently, smuggling networks are increasingly using remote and dangerous desert routes to reach coastal cities such as Tripoli and Zawiya.
The human cost of these events remains extremely high. In February 2026, LCW documented the discovery of 14 bodies, presumably migrants, on the coasts of Derna, Al-Khums, Misrata, Zawiya and Al-Bayda.
In March 2026, we documented the discovery of another 14 bodies, believed to belong to migrants, in coastal and desert areas of Tobruk, Ajdabiya, Derna, Misurata, Tripoli, Zawiya, and Wadi Al-Shatii.
The situation worsened further in April 2026 when the LCW reported the recovery of 77 bodies believed to be migrants in Tobruk, Zuwara, Tripoli, Misrata, Zawiya, Derna, Al-Khums, Sabratha, Sorman and Ghadames.
It is people who have not lost their lives during the Mediterranean crossings, those who find more space in Western media, but along the equally dangerous and far less visible transit routes in the desert. The data exclusively reflects cases that LCW has managed to verify through its network on the ground and almost certainly represent only a portion of the real number of deaths.
What is the role of authorities, militias, and other actors involved in migration management?
La gestione delle migrazioni in Libia è caratterizzata dall’assenza di una politica nazionale coerente, piuttosto che da una strategia unitaria.
Le attuali campagne di arresti sono condotte da agenzie di sicurezza e gruppi armati affiliati sia alle autorità libiche orientali che a quelle occidentali. Tra questi figurano soggetti legati alle Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF), agenzie di controllo migratorio operanti sotto il controllo delle autorità orientali e agenzie di sicurezza attive nella Libia occidentale.
A notable trend is the increasing role of social media in influencing these operations. Armed groups often conduct raids, film them, and publish the footage online to demonstrate their strength and gain public support, using migrants as tools in this communication strategy.
LCW ha inoltre documentato casi in cui civili hanno partecipato direttamente a raid e aggressioni contro i migranti, episodi accompagnati da diffuse campagne di incitamento all’odio sui social media e sui media locali, tra cui alcuni organi di informazione affiliati alle autorità statali.
Although directives appear to have been issued to intensify arrest campaigns in various regions of Libya, implementation remains extremely inconsistent and poorly coordinated between agencies, resulting in arbitrary enforcement.
The LCW 2024 annual report identified at least 33 official entities responsible for serious human rights violations, particularly security institutions, military actors, and armed groups affiliated with the authorities in both eastern and western Libya.
LCW has also documented cases where civilians have directly participated in raids and assaults against migrants, incidents accompanied by widespread hate campaigns on social media and local media, including some news outlets affiliated with state authorities.
What is the impact of European migration policies on the situation in Libya?
At this stage, it remains difficult to fully assess the impact of recent European initiatives, such as the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum. However, what is already visible is the continuous European pressure on Libya through funding, training, technical assistance and logistical support aimed at preventing migrants from reaching Europe.
A trend to note is the growing engagement between European actors and authorities in eastern Libya. Eastern and western Libya are increasingly being treated as distinct interlocutors on migration issues, creating competing channels of cooperation. This approach has significant implications for human rights. Libya remains deeply divided politically and militarily, with rival authorities and armed groups exercising control over different parts of the country. The risk is that migration containment policies are being implemented through institutions and actors involved in arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, torture and other serious violations against migrants.
LCW's 2024 annual report documented 589 human rights violations over the year, including widespread abuse of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. The report also detailed the role of state institutions, security agencies, and armed groups in perpetrating or facilitating serious violations in a context of almost total impunity.
Are there issues that, in your opinion, receive little attention or are often reported incompletely?
I believe that several important aspects of the migration situation in Libya continue to receive insufficient attention.
One of the less documented problems is the exploitation and sexual abuse of migrant women and girls. With LCW, we have documented episodes of sexual violence involving migrant women in detention centres and areas controlled by armed groups. Fear, stigma, and the absence of effective reporting mechanisms mean that many cases remain hidden.
Another often overlooked issue concerns so-called “voluntary humanitarian return” programmes. Although these programmes are presented as voluntary, many migrants only make this decision after experiencing detention, violence, homelessness or having no concrete alternatives. Then there is financial extortion against migrants, particularly in eastern Libya. LCW has documented recurring schemes in which migrants or their families are asked to pay large sums of money in exchange for their release after arrest.
More generally, international attention often focuses on Mediterranean crossings, while the widespread abuses that migrants suffer in Libya long before reaching the coast receive far less attention.
Segui da anni le conseguenze della detenzione arbitraria in Libia e le violazioni dei diritti fondamentali che colpiscono migranti, rifugiati e cittadini stranieri. Vorrei chiederti un parere sul caso degli attivisti del Convoy Sumud, fermati nella Libia orientale mentre partecipavano a una missione internazionale di solidarietà diretta verso il valico di Rafah to demand an end to the siege of Gaza. They were recently released after being kidnapped and held for a month. During that entire period, Information about their condition was extremely limited. What is your assessment of this affair?
In our opinion, this case shares several characteristics with the patterns of arbitrary detention and lack of transparency documented by LCW for years, particularly in cases involving migrants and refugees.
According to the information we possess, one of the reasons cited for the activists' detention was their alleged irregular entry into eastern Libya.According to Domenico Centrone's account, they were all kidnapped before even reaching the checkpoint, editor's note). Sebbene alcuni membri del convoglio siano entrati in Libia con visits rilasciati dal Governo di Unità Nazionale della Libia occidentale, le autorità della Libia orientale non riconoscono necessariamente tali visti e spesso richiedono autorizzazioni di sicurezza separate per l’ingresso nelle aree sotto il loro controllo.
However, beyond the legal justifications provided by the authorities, the use of arbitrary detention has been one of the most frequently employed tools for years against political opponents, activists, journalists, migrants, refugees, and foreign nationals. The lack of clear information regarding the legal status of detainees, detention conditions, access to a lawyer, and prospects for release aligns with the concerns that LCW habitually reiterates in similar cases.
Riteniamo inoltre che questo caso non possa essere considerato in modo disgiunto dal contesto generale della retorica anti-migranti e delle recenti campagne di sicurezza contro migranti e cittadini stranieri in tutta la Libia. Negli ultimi mesi, l’ostilità pubblica nei confronti dei migranti è aumentata significativamente, incoraggiata dal discorso politico, dalle narrazioni mediatiche e dalle campagne sui social media che ritraggono i migranti come una minaccia per la sicurezza e l’economia.
In this situation, public resentment towards migrants and foreigners has sometimes been exploited to justify restrictive measures, arrests and security operations that would otherwise be subject to greater scrutiny. Although the Sumud Convoy activists are not migrants – and although they themselves have stated that they received preferential treatment, editor's note – their story reflects some of the same dynamics that have affected migrants and refugees in Libya, particularly the use of security-based propaganda to legitimise detention and restrictions on fundamental rights.
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Photo credits: Refugees in Libya