A group of 31 civil society organizations on July 17 called [9] on the EU and its member states to end their cooperation with Libyan authorities on migration control. The groups expressed alarm at plans to strengthen cooperation with rival authorities [10] in Eastern and Western Libya who have a longstanding record of human rights abuses against refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants.
In their joint statement, the civil society organizations highlighted that they have consistently expressed [11] deep concern over collaboration between EU member states and Libyan authorities. Assistance from the EU has facilitated the interception and forced return of tens of thousands of refugees and migrants annually to Libya, where they have faced rights abuses including indefinite arbitrary detention in cruel and inhuman conditions, unlawful killings, torture and other ill-treatment, sexual violence, extortion and forced labor.
The rights groups have released their statement in the context of heightened cooperation between the EU and Libyan authorities. The NGO Statewatch recently leaked [12] documents dated May 20 which detail how the EU has been collaborating with Libya's Eastern Forces. The collaboration includes training, technical support and the development of a regional migration coordination center based in Benghazi. The EU has confirmed [13] plans to establish a Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in Benghazi and a surveillance tower with radar in Tobruk, both cities in Eastern Libya controlled by the Libyan Arab Armed Forces. The plan appears to be modelled on a similar 2017 initiative struck with the Western-based government.
Since the NATO intervention in Libya in 2011 and the death [14] of the longtime leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has become a hotspot for human trafficking [15]. The grim situation is illustrated the discovery of nearly 50 bodies [16] in two mass graves in February 2025, and the discovery [17] of a mass grave containing 21 bodies in January 2026. Libya has especially served as a starting point for flights trafficking migrants to Nicaragua [18], with an intended final destination of the United States. The UN has appealed [19] to the EU on the need for life-saving search and rescue operations at sea, and the suspension of interceptions and returns to Libya, among other remedial directives.
Signatories to the joint statement include Amnesty International, EuroMed Rights, Human Rights Watch, Refugees in Libya and Sea-Watch, among others.
From JURIST [20], July 19. Used with permission. Internal links added.
