Human traffickers, paramilitaries, mass graves - none of that seems to be stopping migrants from coming to Libya. Observers believe that only international pressure can change the situation.
The raid by uniformed Libyan security forces was a surprise: they raided cafes in the morning and raided the Libyan coastal town of Zuwara, near the border with Tunisia, where a group of migrants were waiting for potential employers. The men were surrounded and detained, and some were subsequently arrested and taken away, apparently at random.
Michael Shira, a 19-year-old from Nigeria who was also in the cafe that morning, was lucky to avoid arrest. "We live in constant fear," he told Deutsche Welle (DW). "Libyan authorities are currently arresting migrants wherever they see them."
Shira has been hiding in Libya for several months, trying to find a job and waiting for a chance to board a ship to reach Europe.
"First I was in Tunisia, but their authorities persecuted me," he recalled. He then tried to escape to Libya, but was almost arrested at the border by Tunisian border forces.
"They intended to hand over us migrants to the Libyan authorities and everyone knows what happens then," said the teenager.
Often migrants like him end up in one of the Libyan detention centers.
The UN calls for an investigation into mass graves in Libya
"We are constantly witnessing widespread violations of the human rights of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Libya," Liz Trosel, spokeswoman for the United Nations Office for Human Rights, told DW.
According to the UN, these violations include human trafficking, torture, forced labor, extortion, starvation in unbearable conditions of detention, mass deportations and human trafficking.
"All this is done on a large scale and with impunity, while often state and non-state (paramilitary) actors act in collusion," added Trosel.
Folker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, recently called on the Libyan authorities to investigate the recently discovered mass graves along the Libyan-Tunisian border, as well as those found in the Al Jahri valley in Libya in March this year, which contained the least 65 bodies.
In recent years, Libya and Tunisia have become the most popular transit destinations for migrants from sub-Saharan Africa. Both countries are also partners of the European Union, which seeks to reduce the arrival of migrants across the Mediterranean Sea.
In July, the Italian news agency Nova Njuz reported that Libya is now the first country through which migrants head to Italy, although the number of arrivals appears to be decreasing. From the beginning of 2024 to July 5, 14.755 migrants arrived on the Italian islands from Libya, a decrease of 47% compared to 2023. Departures from Tunisia fell by about 70% to 10.247 migrants.
Decreasing departures and increasing human rights violations
However, the reduction in the number of people going to Italy does not mean that fewer people are heading to Libya. On the contrary, humanitarian groups helping refugees on the ground have reported an increase in the number of migrants. But exact figures are hard to find because Libya has been in political chaos for decades.
"In a way, the things that make it difficult to travel through Libya are also the reasons why people choose to travel through Libya," says Tim Eaton, a senior researcher at London-based think tank Chatham House, noting that the number of migrants is increasing "although many of the dangers of traveling through You know Libya well."
Because, "the lack of law and order in Libya and the ability of smuggling networks to operate continuously - often in collusion with the authorities - means that these schemes continue," adds Tim Eaton in an interview with DW. He does not think a turnaround in the way Libya treats migrants in transit is likely in the near future.
For Lauren Seibert, who focuses on the rights of refugees and migrants at the human rights organization Human Rights Watch, international pressure could play a key role.
"Tunisia should immediately stop all deportations of migrants to border areas, where people's lives are at risk," she told DW, adding that "the EU should stop funding governments that carry out these deadly deportations."
Libya: An attractive but dangerous destination
A recent report by the UN and the German Friedrich Ebert Foundation also revealed that Libya has become an increasingly popular destination for migrants.
"The possibility of getting a job easily plays a significant role here," the authors stated, although the absence of rights also increases the vulnerability of migrants.
For Nika Wiliam, a 24-year-old from Ghana, who came to Libya to earn money to travel to Europe, this country will forever be associated with traumatic experiences.
"I fell into the hands of a Libyan gang, I was raped and I got pregnant before I was imprisoned in the Libyan Al-Asa prison," she told DW in Zuwara.
"Every morning they lined us up and whipped us, I lost my baby and I still can't believe that I survived," says Nika Viliam.
Although she was eventually released, her fear still hasn't disappeared. "All I want is a secure future, but I don't know if I'll ever get it or if today will be my last."
Michael Shira from Nigeria thinks similarly. "All I want is to get to Europe, where I believe I can find more stable opportunities to live. But the road is long and full of dangers, and I don't know if I will ever succeed."
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