For the first time in years, Libya’s rival authorities are united on a single issue: an aggressive campaign against migrants and refugees. Using inflammatory anti-migrant rhetoric, authorities are spreading rumors that migrants will be permanently “settled” in the country. The current campaign includes mass arrests, detentions and deportations.
Advocates say that Libyan officials are using the EU’s playbook of couching anti-migrant policies in the language of securing borders. Meanwhile, the EU continues to expand migration cooperation with Libyan authorities, reinforcing the same deterrence policies that leave migrants trapped in exploitation as well as the legitimizing and financing abusive practices.
State sanctioned xenophobia putting migrants at risk
The crackdown ramped up following state-fueled rumors that non-citizens may permanently “settle” in Libya. Consequently, this has sparked widespread anti-migrant protests under the slogan “No to Settlement.” Demonstrators have blocked access to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) headquarters in Tripoli.
At the same time, security forces and affiliated armed groups are carrying out mass roundups of migrants without due process, while state-tolerated vigilantes assault and extort Black migrants on the streets. Rights agencies have expressed concerns about thousands of migrants being detained in inhumane conditions pending deportation.
According to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP):
In eastern Libya, the Directorate to Counter Illegal Migration announced on June 11 that it had ramped up operations under orders from the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF). The agency reported holding 7,596 people pending deportation, adding that 10,133 migrants had already been expelled in recent months.
EU cooperation normalizing anti-migrant practices
Libya was already an unsafe place for migrants. For years, rights organizations and survivors have shared an overwhelming amount of evidence that migrants detained in Libya face trafficking, torture and other human rights abuses.
The OCCRP reports:
Security forces and militias have been widely accused of perpetrating abuses in migrant detention facilities across the country. A February 2025 report detailed the horrific experiences within these detention centers, where human trafficking victims recounted being captured in Tunisia and sold to Libyan armed groups. Many were held in these camps until their families could pay ransoms, which in some cases exceeded $700.The human cost has been devastating.
The cost of EU cooperation
Hanan Salah, associate Middle East and North African director at Human Rights Watch said:
“With thousands of people detained and at risk of expulsion, the scale of the abuses, and the urgency of stopping them could not be clearer.” Yet, for some, it is apparently not clear at all.
Libya remains a major transit point for many migrants hoping to reach Europe. However, one of the top priorities for the EU remains stopping migrants from entering its borders. As Libya adopts increasingly xenophobic policies, the EU continues to strengthen its partnership with the authorities carrying them out. Rather than challenging anti-migrant rhetoric, the EU is lending political legitimacy to a system built on exclusion, detention and exploitation.
In fact, Libya’s crackdown mirrors the EU’s migration deterrence strategy: preventing migrants from moving rather than protecting them from exploitation.
Join Freedom United in calling on the EU to end cooperation with Libyan authorities and replace policies of interception and return with safe pathways that protect people.
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