Migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers in Libya are enduring ruthless and systematic human rights violations, including killings, torture, sexual violence and trafficking, according to a new report published today by the UN human rights office, OHCHR.
Covering the period from January 2024 to December 2025, the report documents what it calls an "exploitative model preying on migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees in situations of heightened vulnerability", describing it as a "brutal and normalised reality" that has become business as usual in Libya.
'Journey of hell'
Based on interviews with nearly 100 migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees from 16 countries across Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, the report details harrowing accounts of abduction, arbitrary detention and extreme abuse.
"I wish I died. It was a journey of hell," said one Eritrean woman detained for six weeks at a trafficking house in Tobruk, eastern Libya.
She described being raped repeatedly by multiple men and witnessing the abuse of girls as young as 14. She was released only after her family paid a ransom.
Another Eritrean woman recounted how traffickers mutilated and raped her and a friend, who later died from her injuries. Others described being held in hangars where armed men raped, tortured and beat detainees in front of others.
Widespread abuse and exploitation
According to the findings, migrants are rounded up by criminal networks - often with ties to Libyan authorities - and transferred to detention facilities without due process.
Many experience slavery, forced labour, forced prostitution, extortion, and the confiscation and re-sale of their belongings and identity documents.
Interceptions of migrants at sea by Libyan actors are frequently violent and dangerous, involving excessive force and reckless manoeuvres. Those captured are forcibly returned to Libya, where they face renewed cycles of abuse.
'Never-ending nightmare'
"There are no words to describe the never-ending nightmare these people are forced into, only to feed the mounting greed of traffickers and those in power profiting from a system of exploitation," said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
"This abusive 'business model' preys on individuals in situations of heightened vulnerability, with detention facilities serving as breeding grounds for gross violations of human rights," added the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya, Hanna Tetteh.
Call for action
The two senior officials underscored the need for life-saving search and rescue operations at sea and appealed to the European Union and other international partners to suspend interceptions and returns to Libya until robust human rights safeguards are in place.
"The suffering of migrants and refugees in Libya must end," Mr. Türk said.
"Protecting their rights and dignity is not optional - it is an obligation under international law."
