‘Journey of hell’: Migrants in Libya endure torture, rape, forced labour

A new UN report says migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in Libya are being forcibly rounded up and abused.Published On 17 Feb 2026The United Nations has warned that migrants in Libya, including young girls, face the risk of being killed, tortured, raped, or forced into domestic slavery.According to a UN Human Rights Office report released on Tuesday, migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees are being forcibly abducted and jailed for long periods until they’re sold or kidnappers receive ransom from relatives.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Why did Saif al-Islam Gaddafi have to die?list 2 of 4At least seven dead, dozens missing as migrant boat capsizes off The Gambialist 3 of 4France bans 10 far-right UK activists for targeting migrant boatslist 4 of 4Two babies among 53 people dead or missing after boat capsizes off Libyaend of list“They endure prolonged detention and are coerced through torture and inhumane treatment into paying for their release,” said the report titled “Business as Usual”.The ⁠report is based on interviews with almost 100 migrants between January 2024 and November 2025, with interviewees both inside and outside Libya.“These violations are executed through a business model – one that turns human mobility into a supply chain and human suffering into profit,” the report said.“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.”‘Journey of hell’Libya has become a transit route for migrants from South Asia, the Middle East and Africa who are fleeing conflict and poverty and journeying ⁠across the Mediterranean to Europe since the 2011 fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi to a NATO-backed uprising. Factional conflict has split the country into rival western and eastern administrations since 2014.In recent years, the European Union has supported and trained the Libyan Coast Guard, which returns migrants stopped at sea to detention centres, and funded Libyan border ‌management programmes.