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UN PhotoOHCHR / LIBYA MIGRANTS INTERVIEW
STORY: OHCHR / LIBYA MIGRANTS INTERVIEW
TRT: 05:35
SOURCE: OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 22 DECEMBER 2025, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM AND 22 DECEMBER 2025, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
18 JANUARY 2026, NAIROBI, KENYA
1. Wide shot, view from room in Nairobi Kenya
22 DECEMBER 2025, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Suki Nagra, human rights Representative at the Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL):
“The situation is extremely dire. We're seeing waves of, attacks against migrants, interceptions at sea where migrants are brought back to Libya, which we consider not a safe port of return because they're automatically detained. And these, these detention centres are then breeding grounds for human rights violations. People are extorted, they're tortured. There's, allegations and credible evidence of, forced labour and and modern day slavery. We're seeing rape, sexual violence, all a host of, challenges in UN human rights violations in these facilities.”
2. Wide shot, map of detention centers in Libya
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Suki Nagra, human rights Representative at the Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL):
“And as our report states, it's a business-as-usual model. So, these issues are not addressed, they're not tackled, and they're growing with more actors engaged and involved in migration management in Libya. And these actors now getting entrenched andoperate with total impunity. You know, there is no accountability. And they continue and the profiteering means that more and more actors get involved and the authorities turn a blind eye.”
4. Wide shot, map of detention centers in Tripoli, Libya
18 JANUARY 2026, NAIROBI, KENYA
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Survivor interview:
“So, when we reached in Libya, we were welcomed with canes, we were beaten. And the introduction was that we, as we are here, we are going we are going to pay a ransom of different amount of money because I was told, I have to pay a ransom of $10,000 so that I can be released from that jail. That confinement.”
6. Wide shot, view from room in Nairobi Kenya
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Survivor interview:
“First day, in the morning when we woke up, there was a certain boy who wanted to rebel, and he was killed instantly. And they washed him and went to throw him in the desert.”
8. Wide shot, view from room in Nairobi Kenya
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Survivor interview:
“They told us they will be beating us. Until when our people who support us to get out of that place are going to pay. There are rules. You are going to die. They kill you.”
10. Close up, victim scrolling on his phone
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Survivor interview:
“They used sticks and rubbers on our back and sometimes beat us with guns.
12. Close up, picture of the wounded victim’s back
13. Close up, picture of the wounded victim’s back with bandages
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Survivor interview:
“So, this is when I was at the IOM for treatment in Libya.”
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Survivor interview:
“And they told me the person who sold me, he lied to me, that he's going to give me a job but he trafficked me. However, the other and Somalis and Ethiopian that were there, they had willfully given themself because they wanted to travel to Europe.”
22 DECEMBER 2025, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Suki Nagra, human rights Representative at the Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL):
“Well, we're talking about, perpetrators of criminal networks. We're talking about, perpetrators who are linked to the state security machinery. There are trafficking gangs, all sorts of, individuals who are profiteering, basically from this whole scenario of individuals who are seeking, protection, care or new life elsewhere. They're on the move and they're exploited for profit and gain by these actors, whether they're linked to the state or they're criminals.”
17. Wide shot, map of detention centers in Tripoli, Libya
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Suki Nagra, human rights Representative at the Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL):
“We refer to these interceptions at sea as interceptions because they are precisely that. They are not search and rescue operations. Based on, for example, distress calls. And these practices take place to stop boats from reaching Europe. The interceptions are really about ensuring that people are then taken from boats or as we say, rescued from sea and then immediately detained. And as I mentioned, these detention centres are essentially breeding grounds for human rights violations.”
19. Wide shot, map of Migrant disembarkationpoints Libya
20. Soundbite (English) Suki Nagra, human rights Representative at the Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL):
“Another, recommendation that we made that is key. Is that all assistance that, the international community, makes in terms of its support, for example, to, Libyan authorities such as the Libyan Coast Guard and others should be conditional.It should comply with international human rights standards in that, it should guarantee that those entities, the ones that are being funded and supported, even through trainings and or the provision of infrastructure, such as boats, for example, they are not engaged in perpetrating human rights violations and that they're held accountable.”
18 JANUARY 2026, NAIROBI, KENYA
21. Wide shot, view from room in Nairobi Kenya
A UN report published today on the treatment in Libya of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers finds they are subjected to ruthless and systematic human rights violations and abuses, including killings, torture, sexual violence and trafficking.
“The situation is extremely dire. We're seeing waves of, attacks against migrants, interceptions at sea where migrants are brought back to Libya, which we consider not a safe port of return because they're automatically detained. And these, these detention centres are then breeding grounds for human rights violations. People are extorted, they're tortured. There's, allegations and credible evidence of, forced labour and and modern day slavery. We're seeing rape, sexual violence, all a host of, challenges in UN human rights violations in these facilities,” said Suki Nagra, human rights Representative at the Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).
The joint report by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Support Mission in Libya finds that migrants are rounded up and abducted by criminal trafficking networks, often with ties to the Libyan authorities. It describes how they are separated from their families, arbitrarily arrested and transferred to detention facilities without due process, often at gunpoint.
“And as our report states, it's a business-as-usual model. So, these issues are not addressed, they're not tackled, and they're growing with more actors engaged and involved in migration management in Libya. And these actors now getting entrenched andoperate with total impunity. You know, there is no accountability. And they continue and the profiteering means that more and more actors get involved and the authorities turn a blind eye, “ she said.
In detention, the migrants are subjected to horrific violations and abuses, such as slavery, torture, ill-treatment, forced labour, forced prostitution and other forms of sexual violence, ransom, extortion, as well as the confiscation and resale of their belongings and identification documents.
Covering the period from January 2024 to December 2025, the report describes an “exploitative model preying on migrants, asylum seekers and refugees in situations of heightened vulnerability [that] has become ‘business as usual’ – a brutal and normalised reality”.
The report is based on interviews with almost 100 migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, from 16 countries in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia.
One of these victims spoke to us on condition of anonymity, he was able to return to his home only once his family sold some land to pay for the ransom demanded by the hostage takers.
“So, when we reached in Libya, we were welcomed with canes, we were beaten. And the introduction was that we, as we are here, we are going we are going to pay a ransom of different amount of money because I was told, I have to pay a ransom of $10,000 so that I can be released from that jail. That confinement.” the victim said
“First day, in the morning when we woke up, there was a certain boy who wanted to rebel, and he was killed instantly. And they washed him and went to throw him in the desert,” the victim recollected.
“They told us they will be beating us. Until when? People who support us to get out of that placeIf you were going to pay,. There are rules. You are going to die. They kill you,” he stated.
The victim was subject to regular beatings; he recorded these pictures of his wounds.
“They would (use) sticks and rubbers on our back and sometimes beat us with guns. So, this is when I was at the IOM for treatment in Libya,” he said.
“ And they told me the person who sold me, he lied to me, that he's going to give me a job But he trafficked me. However, the other and Somalis and Ethiopian that were there, they had willfully given themself because they wanted to travel to Europe,” the victim said.
Migrants also described horrific attempts to cross the central Mediterranean. “Interceptions by Libyan actors were frequently dangerous and involved threats, hazardous manoeuvres, and excessive use of force, putting people’s lives at risk,” said the report. Those intercepted are generally forcibly returned to Libya, where they are routinely detained and risk facing the same cycle of abuse.
“Well, we're talking about, perpetrators of criminal networks. We're talking about, perpetrators who are linked to the state security machinery. There are trafficking gangs, all sorts of, individuals who are profiteering, basically from this whole scenario of individuals who are seeking, protection, care or new life elsewhere. They're on the move and they're exploited for profit and gain by these actors, whether they're linked to the state or they're criminals,” said Suki Nagra.
“We refer to these interceptions at sea as interceptions because they are precisely that. They are not search and rescue operations. Based on, for example, distress calls. And these practices take place to stop boats from reaching Europe. The interceptions are really about ensuring that people are then taken from boats or as we say, rescued from sea and then immediately detained. And as I mentioned, these detention centres are essentially breeding grounds for human rights violations,” she said.
The report calls on the Libyan authorities to release immediately all those arbitrarily detained from both unofficial and official detention centres, to cease dangerous interception practices, and to decriminalise irregular entry, stay and exit from the country. Ending all forms of modern slavery, forced labour and human trafficking, and ensuring accountability for human rights violations and abuses are also crucial.
“Another, recommendation that we made that is key. Is that all assistance that, the international community, makes in terms of its support, for example, to, Libyan authorities such as the Libyan Coast Guard and others should be conditional. It should comply with international human rights standards in that, it should guarantee that those entities, the ones that are being funded and supported, even through trainings and or the provision of infrastructure, such as boats, for example, they are not engaged in perpetrating human rights violations and that they're held accountable,” said Suki Nagra.
The report urges the international community, including the European Union, to establish a moratorium on all interceptions and returns to Libya until adequate human rights safeguards are ensured.
