Libya’s Migrant Crisis: Legal, Human Rights, and Societal Challenges

10 sep 2024

Download : Libya’s Migrant Crisis: Legal, Human Rights, and Societal Challenges

The waves of conflict witnessed outside and inside Libya have produced repetitive fluxes of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) over the years (Mneina, 2022). IDPs make up the larger majority of those seeking humanitarian aid in the country. 

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that there are at least 160,000 IDPs and over 40,000 asylum seekers in Libya (Mneina, 2022). Libya is a key transit country for those seeking to enter Europe from Africa and other adjacent continents and countries (MMC, 2019). Its strategic position makes it a potential destination for migrants arrested and detained by the country’s Coast Guard. 

The high numbers of refugees create significant pressure on the available resources, including the camps where migrants are kept by the local and central authorities in Libya. This creation of ‘safe’ detention camps following an agreement between the Libyan government and the European Union (EU) seems to have worsened the plight of refugees and immigrants in the country (Ananthavinayagan, 2019). Migrants and asylum seekers in Libya have repeatedly been subjected to severe rights violations due to the existing legal gaps and the ongoing political instability in the country. This has paved the way for poor health and wellbeing as well as illegal activities in the detention camps. This article aims to analyse the refugee crisis in Libya with a view to recommending alternative approaches to addressing the problem. The article focuses on the legal position of migrants and the detention living conditions to provide alternative solutions to the challenges. The article also examines the human rights issues of the migrants and societal factors that impacted on the solutions of this crisis. 

Download : Libya’s Migrant Crisis: Legal, Human Rights, and Societal Challenges