UN Report: Horrific Conditions Plague Migrants in Libya. City, Country — The United Nations has issued a stark report detailing the harrowing conditions faced by migrants in Libya, where they are subjected to torture, rape, and forced labor.
The report, titled “Business as Usual, “highlights the exploitation of migrants, including young girls, who are at risk of being killed, tortured, or forced into domestic slavery.
According to the UN Human Rights Office, migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees are forcibly abducted and detained for extended periods, often until their families can pay ransoms or until they are sold.
The report, based on interviews with nearly 100 migrants between January 2024 and November 2025, reveals a disturbing pattern of human rights abuses. Officials commented on the matter. “.
Detention has become a revenue stream within an exploitative, profit — driven system.
Survival depends on payment. Those without money are passed along, sold, or erased.”.
Libya has become a critical transit point for migrants from South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa seeking to reach Europe across the Mediterranean Sea.
Since the fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the country has been divided into rival western and eastern administrations, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.
The European Union has been involved in supporting and training the Libyan Coast Guard, which has returned migrants stopped at sea to detention centers.
The UN Human Rights representative for Libya, Suki Nagra, described the situation as “extremely dire. We’re seeing waves of racist and xenophobic hate speech and attacks against migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees, as well as interceptions at sea where people are brought back to Libya — which we do not consider a safe place for disembarkation and return, “Nagra.
The report cited several harrowing accounts, including that of an unnamed Eritrean woman who was detained for six weeks and raped multiple times before her family paid a ransom.
Another woman, identified as Gloria from Nigeria, was forced into marriage and prostitution as a child.
The UN report emphasizes the importance of life — saving search and rescue operations for migrants at sea but calls for the international community to halt returns to Libya until adequate human rights safeguards are in place. Further details are expected as the situation continues to unfold.
