Detention Centres in Libya
Detention centres in Libya, are criminal enterprises run by gangs of people-traffickers and kidnappers for profit. Lawlessness in Libya has resulted in circumstances where criminals gangs abduct and detain people who are migrating to or through Libya. 5,000 migrants are held in dozens of camps that are mostly located around Bani Walid. Detainees often suffer torture and may face execution if their family do not pay ransoms to the gangs. European government who reject asylum seekers arriving by boat create circumstances where people are vulnerable to the activities of the gangs who run the detention  centres. The detention centres have been publicly condemned by Pope Francis, Médecins Sans Frontières and in leaked documents from the German government. Context. Post war Libya. Since the 2011 death of leader Moamer Kadhafi, Libya has become a route for migrants and refugees making their way to Europe. In 2014, armed conflict exacerbated lawlessness in Libya creating conditions where gangs can abduct migrants and detain them in camps with relative impunity. There are currently 700,000 migrants in Libya of which 5,000 are in detention. European migration policy. The financial success of the camps is bolstered by a European Union funded  effort to return migrants on boats to Libya. In 2018, Médecins Sans Frontières described "kidnapping for ransom" as a thriving business and criticized European Union-sponsored policies to deter refugees and migrants from traveling to Europe. Detention centre operations. The camps are run by Islamist militias, smuggling gangs, and the Libyan Coast Guard. After migrants are abducted, detention center staff telephone the prisoners' families to demand ransoms. Detainees from Chad, South Sudan, Syria, Ghana, Sudan, Niger, and Nigeria suffer violence including beatings, rape, torture, starvation, and murder in the camps. Some people are held for over three years. Those whose  family do not pay ransoms may be killed. A 2017 German diplomatic report stated that anyone who does not pay within a set period of time is executed. It quoted witnesses who spoke of precisely five executions every week, every Friday, scheduled to make space for new incoming abductees. The value of ransom payments vary, with known examples ranging between 2,500 Libyan dinars (US$500) and 25,000 dinars (US$5,000). Notable events at detention centres. Escapes. In May 2018, many prisoners at Bani Walid detention center tried to escape, with most being recaptured or shot. In April 2021, more than  20 detainees escaped from a camp south of Bani Walid. Tajoura centre airstrike. On 2 July 2019 at 23:30, during the 2019–20 Western Libya campaign, an airstrike hit the Tajoura Detention Center, outside Tripoli, while hundreds of people were inside the facility. 53 people died and over 130 were injured. Tripoli homicides and mass abduction. In January 2022, over 600 migrants and asylum seekers were violently attacked outside the location of a former United Nations development center. Several people will killed in the attack, while most were subsequently imprisoned in Ain Zara detention center in Tripoli. The events prompted condemnation  from the Norwegian Refugee Council and the International Rescue Committee. The events were praised by Abdul Hamid Dbeibah. Criticisms of detention centres. In 2018, Médecins Sans Frontières condemned arbitrary detention of people and spoke out about the need for protection and humanitarian aid.” A leaked 2017 report from Germany’s Foreign Ministry detailed human rights abuses, and photographic evidence of "concentration camp like conditions.” In 2019, following the 2019 Tajoura migrant centre airstrike a joint statement from the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees called for "an immediate end to detention of migrants and  refugees." In 2021, Pope Francis was critical of the camps, the "inhuman violence," and the policies that fuel them. Prosecutions of detention centre leaders. An Italian court found smuggler Osman Matammud, from Somalia, guilty of multiple counts of murder, abduction and rape. Osama Al Kuni Ibrahim was sanctioned by the United Nations in 2021 after he was accused by US authorities of “systematic exploitation of African migrants at the detention centre” at the Al Nasr centre." Locations of detention centres. Detention facilities are centred around Bani Walid where there are approximately 20 camps including Bani Walid detention camp. Al Mabani  centre, which opened in January 2021, is located in Tripoli and detains approximately 1,500 abductees. The Triq al-Sika detention centre is in Tripoli. The Tajoura Detention Center is located 16 kilometres east of Tripoli. The Al Nasr centre, also known informally as the "Osama prison," is located in Zawiyah.