The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said Monday it was concerned about the mass arbitrary arrest of immigrants and asylum-seekers across the country, calling on Libyan authorities to halt these actions and treat immigrants with dignity and humanity in line with their international obligations.
"Libyan authorities must grant UN agencies and INGOs unimpeded access to detainees in need of urgent protection." UNSMIL said in a statement, adding that Libyan authorities had arrested thousands of men, women and children from the streets and their homes or following raids on alleged traffickers’ camps and warehouses.
"Many of these migrants, including pregnant women and children, are being detained in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions. Thousands of others, including migrants who have entered Libya legally, have been collectively expelled without screening or due process." UNSMIL added, indicating that the campaign of arbitrary arrests and deportations had been accompanied by a disturbing rise in hate speech and racist discourse against foreigners online and in the media.
Meanwhile, the monitoring group Migrant Rescue Watch said that the deportation of Egyptian immigrants from eastern Libya continued until last Thursday, and that they were loaded into several trucks and some were taken to Benghazi and others to their countries.
Human Rights Watch criticized, according to Middle East Eye the deportation and the behavior of the Libyan forces during the operations.
"The conditions under which these people are rounded up appear to be incredibly violent and inhumane," said Hanan Salah, Human Rights Watch's associate director for the Middle East and North Africa.
"This is absolutely unacceptable the way that people are being hoarded into a certain space and yelled at, with obscenities shouted at them... they are being forced to walk and run for long periods. They're apparently not being given the basic necessities they need. The de facto authorities or those who conducted it need to explain themselves." She added.
