"No Words!" UN Report Details Rape, Torture & Killing of Migrants in Libya

A new UN investigation has renewed scrutiny of Libya’s treatment of migrants, documenting patterns of detention, trafficking, and sexual violence, while urging governments to suspend returns to the country.

The report, published Tuesday by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Support Mission in Libya, covers abuses recorded between January 2024 and December 2025. Based on interviews with nearly 100 migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees from 16 countries across Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, the findings describe killings, torture, rape, forced labor, and domestic servitude.

Detention And Trafficking Nexus

UN officials said migrants are frequently rounded up by trafficking networks with alleged links to state actors. Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office, said victims are “separated from their families, arrested, and transferred to detention facilities without due process,” often “at gunpoint,” in what he characterized as arbitrary detention.

The report states that intermediaries arrange travel using tourist or other non-military visas, leaving migrants vulnerable to exploitation upon arrival.

Testimonies of Abuse

Accounts gathered by investigators describe systemic violence inside trafficking houses and detention centers. One Eritrean woman detained for more than six weeks in Tobruk said: “I wish I died. It was a journey of hell.”

She described repeated assaults, adding: “Different men raped me many times. Girls as young as 14 were raped daily.”

Other testimonies cited forced labor without pay or sufficient food, and children separated from their mothers.

Gendered Violence Patterns

Suki Nagra of the UN Support Mission in Libya detailed methods of abuse targeting women. “Men used humiliating methods with women,” she said, including forcing detainees to remove clothing publicly before being raped or beaten.

The UN urged the international community to maintain life-saving search and rescue operations at sea while halting returns to Libya until adequate human rights safeguards are established.

Sudan War And Regional Pressures

Libya’s migrant crisis has deepened amid regional instability. The country hosts approximately 100,000 refugees, including 84,400 Sudanese who fled war after 2023. Displacement has also been driven by Eritrean repression and trafficking routes across the Sahara.

Longstanding Rights Concerns

Human rights organizations have repeatedly warned of abuse risks. Amnesty International stated in September 2020: “Refugees and migrants in war-torn Libya are trapped in a vicious cycle of abuse,” explaining how they are exposed to arbitrary detention, torture, rape, and forced labor.

The European Union renewed its border cooperation framework with Libya in October, expanding support for maritime interceptions and migrant returns. EU institutions have previously defended the policy as necessary for managing irregular migration.

Libyan authorities have consistently denied allegations of systematic mistreatment.