Source: Amnesty International –
- Rival Libyan authorities are escalating a racist crackdown involving thousands of arrests, arbitrary detention and collective expulsions of refugees and migrants
- Xenophobic rhetoric from officials is fueling abuses and rising anti-migrant protests and vigilantism
- EU is seeking to deepen migration cooperation with these actors despite a record of grave abuses
The European Union is seeking to expand its migration cooperation with rival Libyan authorities and allied armed groups just as they have been escalating their campaign of racially discriminatory mass arrests, arbitrary detention, and unlawful collective expulsions of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants supported by xenophobic discourse, Amnesty International said today.
Over the past month, the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU) and its rival eastern-based “Libyan Government”, allied to the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF) armed group, in de facto control of eastern and southern Libya, have embarked on a renewed crackdown against foreign nationals arresting thousands. Xenophobic and racist statements by officials have fueled a surge of anti-migrant protests, vigilantism and hate speech online.
Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) is actively moving to expand its migration cooperation with these very actors to further contain refugees and migrants in Libya, notably in eastern Libya with the LAAF despite its well documented record of crimes under international law and serious human rights abuses.
“It is abhorrent that rival Libyan authorities are uniting in the abuse of migrants and refugees, deploying racist rhetoric, ignoring refugee claims, and arbitrarily detaining thousands before expelling them including collectively at land borders. The Government of National Unity and their eastern-based rivals must immediately put an end to these abuses,” said Diana Elahawy, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.
“The EU has long bankrolled migration control in Libya with its support to the Libyan Coast Guard, which has already made it complicit in horrific violations and abuses. Extending this cooperation to eastern-based armed groups with records of committing war crimes and other abuses with impunity shows a shocking disregard, not only for international law, but also for human life and dignity. The EU and its member states cannot evade responsibility while these abuses continue under their watch. They must end their complicity in crimes under international law and suspend their containment policies that trap people in cycles of abuse,”
The Government of National Unity and their eastern-based rivals must immediately cease their racist and xenophobic discourse and instruct allied entities and armed groups to put an end to the mass arbitrary detention and unlawful expulsion of refugees and migrants and instead protect them from any torture and other abuse at the hands of state and non-state agents.