Amnesty International has called on Italy and the European Union to stop cooperating in returning migrants and asylum seekers to the “hell of Libya”, as it described it.

Over the past five years, more than 82,000 people have been intercepted at sea and returned to Libya, where they subjected to arbitrary detention, torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, rape, sexual violence, forced labour and killing, according to the organization.

In its report, which was issued on Monday on the 5th anniversary of cooperation agreements aimed at the interception of migrants and refugees while crossing the Mediterranean, it stressed that Libya is not a safe port for the disembarkation of refugees and migrants, reiterating its call on relevant member states to re-examine the policies that support the interception process at sea.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations had said in a report last January that he was "gravely concerned" about the continuing human rights violations against refugees and migrants in Libya, including cases of sexual violence, human trafficking, and mass expulsions.