Italian authorities have arrested two men who are accused of holding migrants captive in a detention camp in Libya. Four Bangladeshi migrants recognized the two suspects and said they worked at a camp in central Libya where they were imprisoned and tortured, investigators said.
Dozens of migrants fled the port of the Libyan capital Tripoli on Friday amidst shelling. Around 280 migrants were held there after Libyan coast guards intercepted them in their attempt to reach Europe by boat. Libya had classified its own ports unsafe and denied the landing.
On Sunday, Italy sent Libyan authorities proposed changes to the 2017 Italy-Libya Memorandum of Understanding on migrants. The Italian foreign ministry said the draft introduces "significant innovations" to ensure more protections to migrants, asylum seekers, and in particular people who are vulnerable to becoming victims of illegal traffickers across Libya.
Representatives from the international community met the Libyan warring parties in Berlin on Sunday, January 19. The summit was intended to broker a ceasefire and lasting peace for the country. But what was agreed and what could that mean for the more than 40,000 migrants in Libya?
The European Union started pouring money to Libya to improve the conditions in the detention centers and to stop the flow of migrants to Europe. But an Associated Press (AP) investigation has found that parts of these funds have facilitated an intertwined and highly lucrative web of businesses that thrive on the misery of migrants in Libya.
African migrants and refugees relocated to Rwanda are relieved to have escaped the hellish conditions in Libyan camps. But they will not give up on their original goal to reach Europe and are starting to feel restless.
African migrants and refugees relocated to Rwanda are relieved to have escaped the hellish conditions in Libyan camps. But they will not give up on their original goal to reach Europe and are starting to feel restless.
Libya is one of the most important transit points for migrants who want to cross the Mediterrean to reach Europe. Many holding camps are run by smugglers and people are subjected to horrendous conditions. DW caught up with survivors of the refugee camp's horrors who managed to escape to Niger, Libya's southern neighbor.
In one week, a total of 493 migrants from sub-Saharan, Arab and Asian countries were collected by Libya's controversial coast guard. They are now in four detention centers in and around Tripoli that are known for overcrowded, inhumane and insecure conditions.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said a Sudanese man died from a gunshot wound in Libya when a group of migrants resisted being sent to a detention center. They were returned to shore by Libya's coast guard after a failed attempt to get to Europe. The IOM demands "alternatives to detention."
A report released by the United Nations in early September accused Libyan local and state authorities of being involved in human trafficking. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote in the report that both local and state authorities in Libya are involved in the human trafficking of migrants. The UN said that the information it had received in order to write the report was "credible."
In war-torn Libya, a major transit point for migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, the situation for the close to 5,000 refugees and migrants stuck in detention centers is still hostile. On Thursday September 12, 98 refugees were taken to Italy, the latest transfer in a larger effort to evacuate the north African country's overcrowded and unsafe facilities.