Amnesty accuses European Union of complicity as Libya intensifies migrant crackdown

Libyan authorities in the country’s rival eastern and western administrations have intensified mass arrests, arbitrary detention, forced evictions and expulsions of migrants and refugees, Amnesty International said on June 23, 2026. The human rights organisation said thousands of foreign nationals had been detained during a nationwide campaign that included people fleeing the war in Sudan and others who were allegedly removed without an opportunity to seek asylum or challenge deportation. Amnesty International also accused the European Union of enabling abuses by continuing to finance and expand migration cooperation with Libyan coastguard units, border agencies and eastern armed groups. The European Union maintains that its programmes are intended to prevent dangerous Mediterranean journeys, combat human smuggling and improve protection and border management. The dispute exposes the growing conflict between European migration-control objectives and the treatment of people intercepted or contained inside Libya.

Amnesty International said the latest operation was not confined to one authority or region. The Tripoli-based Government of National Unity and the rival eastern administration allied with the Libyan Arab Armed Forces were both accused of conducting racially discriminatory arrests and collective expulsions. The organisation documented operations in cities including Tripoli, Benghazi, Derna, Tobruk, Sirte, Sebha, Ajdabiya, Al-Bayda and Sabratha.

The crackdown has unfolded alongside anti-migrant demonstrations, hostile official rhetoric and online campaigns portraying refugees and migrants as a threat to Libya’s identity and economic stability. United Nations institutions have previously documented systemic violence against migrants in Libya, including arbitrary detention, torture, sexual violence, forced labour and trafficking.

What has Amnesty International documented during Libya’s latest nationwide migrant crackdown?

Amnesty International said the campaign had accelerated during May and June 2026 and involved thousands of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. The organisation said western and eastern security bodies conducted raids, cleared informal settlements and detained foreign nationals in multiple cities. It characterised many of the arrests as arbitrary because individuals were allegedly detained on the basis of nationality, race or perceived migration status rather than through individual legal proceedings.

In western Libya, the Directorate for Combating Illegal Migration announced the eviction and arrest of dozens of migrants, including children, from informal camps in the Al Serraj area of Tripoli on May 18. A branch of the same directorate said more than 800 people, including Sudanese nationals, had been expelled from Mitiga International Airport since early May. Amnesty International said those removed were not provided with an effective opportunity to contest deportation or submit asylum claims.

The eastern Directorate for Combating Illegal Migration stated on May 24 that between 7,000 and 8,000 migrants were detained in eastern and southern Libya pending expulsion. The announced total included approximately 4,500 foreign nationals detained since May, among them people from Sudan. These figures were issued by Libyan enforcement bodies and were cited by Amnesty International as evidence of the scale of the operation.

The breadth of the campaign matters because Libya remains divided between rival centres of authority. Measures implemented by both sides indicate that anti-migrant enforcement has become one of the few policy areas in which competing Libyan administrations are acting in a broadly similar direction. That convergence increases the difficulty of finding safe areas inside the country for migrants facing detention or removal.

Why are Sudanese refugees and other asylum seekers especially exposed to unlawful expulsion?

People escaping armed conflict may qualify for international protection even when they enter another country without prior permission or valid documentation. Amnesty International said Libyan authorities were expelling people, including Sudanese nationals, without giving them an opportunity to request asylum or challenge removal through an independent process.

The absence of an effective national asylum system in Libya creates an institutional gap. Migrants, refugees and asylum seekers are frequently processed through security and detention structures rather than a civilian protection framework capable of assessing individual claims. This means people fleeing war or persecution can be treated as irregular migrants before their protection needs are examined.

Collective expulsion also prevents authorities from considering whether an individual could face persecution, torture, conflict or other serious harm after removal. The international principle of non-refoulement generally prohibits states from returning people to territories where they face specified forms of grave danger. Amnesty International argued that summary removals without individual assessment risk violating that principle.

The issue is especially significant for Sudanese nationals because Sudan’s war has displaced millions of people within the country and across its borders. Libya is both a destination and a transit point for some of those fleeing the conflict. Deporting Sudanese nationals without examining their circumstances could return vulnerable people towards an active war environment or push them into further trafficking networks.

How has anti-migrant rhetoric contributed to protests, vigilantism and racial targeting in Libya?

Amnesty International linked the enforcement campaign to a wider rise in xenophobic and racist rhetoric. Statements issued by institutions associated with both Libyan administrations rejected what they described as the permanent settlement of migrants. Some of that language specifically portrayed Black African migrants as a demographic, cultural or security threat.

The House of Representatives, which is aligned with the eastern authorities, referred to the protection of Libya’s demographic and cultural identity and cited legislation providing for imprisonment and expulsion in cases involving settlement. The Government of National Unity also announced a national expulsion programme and said thousands had already been removed.

Anti-migrant demonstrations have been held regularly in the Janzour area of western Tripoli, where United Nations offices are located. Protesters have demanded that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees leave Libya and have accused international organisations of attempting to settle migrants permanently in the country. On June 4, demonstrators breached an exterior gate near the compound of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya after placing sand at the entrance to the refugee agency’s office.

Amnesty International also cited videos showing Black people being pursued, mocked, assaulted or otherwise abused in Tripoli, Zintan and Zliten. The organisation argued that hostile political language was encouraging vigilante action and making racialised individuals vulnerable regardless of their legal status.

The consequences extend beyond those directly detained. Employers and landlords have faced calls to dismiss, evict or report foreign nationals, creating pressure that can push migrants into homelessness, informal work or dependence on smugglers. When enforcement and public hostility operate together, even people with documentation may avoid authorities, medical care or humanitarian organisations because they fear detention.

Why does Amnesty International say European Union migration policy enables abuses in Libya?

The European Union and several European Union member states have supported Libyan migration and border-management institutions for years. Assistance has included financing, training, equipment, maritime coordination and cooperation with Libyan coastguard units that intercept boats attempting to cross the Mediterranean. Intercepted migrants are commonly returned to Libya.

Amnesty International argues that this arrangement makes the European Union complicit because European institutions know that migrants returned to Libya can face arbitrary detention and serious abuse. The organisation said expanding cooperation to armed groups aligned with eastern Libya was particularly concerning because some of those actors have previously been accused of violations of international law.

The European Union presents a different institutional position. The European Commission says it is working to establish comprehensive and rights-based migration governance in Libya. European Union funding supports protection programmes, humanitarian evacuation, voluntary return, local communities, border management, search and rescue, and action against smuggling.

Between 2021 and 2024, the European Union adopted approximately €220 million in bilateral and regional migration programmes involving Libya. The European Commission says more than two thirds of that amount was dedicated to protection, voluntary humanitarian returns and evacuation. This followed approximately €465 million allocated to Libya through the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa between 2015 and 2021.

The policy conflict is therefore not simply about whether Europe provides humanitarian funding. It concerns whether the broader objective of preventing Mediterranean departures depends on security actors whose conduct undermines the protection programmes financed alongside them. Amnesty International contends that protection spending does not remove responsibility when European-backed interception and containment place people back into abusive conditions.

What role do the Libyan Coast Guard and planned maritime coordination systems play?

The Libyan Coast Guard is central to the European Union’s strategy because it intercepts boats before they reach European waters. European Union missions with migration-related mandates include the European Union Border Assistance Mission in Libya and European Union Naval Force Mediterranean Operation Irini. The European Union says these structures support border management, security-sector reform and efforts to disrupt smuggling and trafficking networks.

Amnesty International said the European Union was considering deeper engagement with eastern Libya, including the possible creation of a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Benghazi. Benghazi is under the control of authorities aligned with the Libyan Arab Armed Forces. Such a centre could expand the area in which eastern Libyan institutions coordinate interceptions at sea.

The organisation said the proposed cooperation followed incidents involving alleged gunfire by Libyan coastguard personnel against humanitarian rescue vessels. Amnesty International referred to a May 11 incident involving a Sea-Watch rescue boat in international waters north of Tripoli and said it was the third such incident since August 2025.

The core disagreement concerns what happens after interception. European institutions describe coastguard cooperation as a means of reducing deaths and disrupting criminal networks. Human rights organisations argue that returning intercepted people to Libya exposes them to detention, trafficking and violence, meaning that interception cannot automatically be treated as a successful rescue operation.

A February 2026 report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Support Mission in Libya called for a moratorium on returning migrant boats to Libya until adequate safeguards exist. The report documented allegations of killing, torture, rape, domestic servitude, forced labour and detention without due process.

How does Libya’s political division make migrant protection and accountability more difficult?

Libya has remained divided between western and eastern power structures after years of conflict following the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. The European Union formally works with the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity while also engaging authorities and security actors in eastern Libya.

Fragmentation means detention facilities, coastguard units, border forces and armed groups operate through overlapping chains of command. Some facilities are formally associated with government agencies, while others are controlled or influenced by armed groups. Migrants can be transferred between official and unofficial detention systems, making it difficult to trace individuals or determine who is legally responsible for their treatment.

The political split also limits judicial accountability. Courts, prosecutors and police institutions do not function uniformly across the country, while armed actors retain significant influence. Investigating alleged torture, sexual violence, unlawful killing or trafficking is therefore difficult, particularly when the accused organisation is connected to a security institution.

European engagement with multiple authorities may be operationally necessary for maritime coordination and border management, but it also creates accountability risks. Funding, equipment or training can pass through institutions with limited transparency, and European monitors may have little control over how support is ultimately used.

The European Union says it supports a Libyan-led political process, United Nations mediation, elections, human rights and sanctions against individuals involved in trafficking or serious violations. The challenge is that migration cooperation is proceeding while the political and judicial institutions needed to enforce those standards remain incomplete.

What choices now confront the European Union and Libya after the Amnesty allegations?

Libyan authorities face pressure to halt indiscriminate arrests, provide access to legal procedures and allow people to make asylum or protection claims. They also face demands to investigate abuse in detention facilities and prevent security forces or vigilantes from targeting people based on race or nationality.

The European Union must decide whether to maintain, suspend or condition support for Libyan migration institutions. Conditioning assistance could include human rights monitoring, independent access to detention centres, transparent investigation of maritime incidents and suspension of cooperation with units implicated in serious abuse.

European policymakers also confront domestic pressure to reduce irregular migration. Mediterranean arrivals remain politically sensitive across the European Union, and governments have increasingly sought agreements with transit countries to prevent departures before migrants reach European territory. That approach can reduce visible arrivals while moving legal and humanitarian responsibility outside European borders.

Ending all cooperation would not automatically improve conditions. Libya lacks a unified government, trafficking networks remain active and migrants continue to undertake dangerous journeys. However, continued cooperation without enforceable safeguards risks deepening the same detention and abuse system that European protection programmes are intended to mitigate.

The June 23 allegations therefore place the European Union’s credibility at the centre of the dispute. European institutions describe their policy as rights-based migration management designed to save lives. Amnesty International and United Nations findings indicate that many people contained in Libya continue to face violence, arbitrary detention and the denial of legal protection. The strategic question is whether the European Union can maintain border-control cooperation without becoming responsible for the foreseeable consequences of that cooperation.

What are the key takeaways from Libya’s migrant crackdown and the European Union dispute?

• Amnesty International said on June 23, 2026, that authorities in eastern and western Libya had intensified mass arrests, arbitrary detention, forced evictions and collective expulsions involving thousands of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants.
• The crackdown was reported across cities including Tripoli, Benghazi, Derna, Tobruk, Sirte, Sebha, Ajdabiya, Al-Bayda and Sabratha, indicating coordinated enforcement across territories controlled by rival Libyan administrations.
• Eastern migration authorities announced that between 7,000 and 8,000 migrants were detained pending expulsion, while a western branch said more than 800 people had been removed through Mitiga International Airport since early May.
• Amnesty International said Sudanese nationals and other foreign citizens were expelled without meaningful opportunities to apply for asylum or legally challenge deportation, raising concerns over collective expulsion and return to dangerous conditions.
• Anti-migrant protests and official rhetoric have portrayed foreign nationals as a demographic and economic threat, while Amnesty International documented videos showing Black people being pursued, insulted and physically assaulted in several Libyan cities.
• The European Union says its migration programmes support protection, humanitarian evacuation, voluntary return, search and rescue, border management and anti-smuggling efforts, including approximately €220 million in programmes adopted between 2021 and 2024.
• Amnesty International argues that European support for Libyan coastguard and security institutions enables abuse because intercepted migrants are returned to a country where United Nations investigators have documented torture, rape, forced labour and arbitrary detention.
• The central policy test is whether the European Union can continue working with fragmented Libyan authorities while establishing enforceable safeguards, independent monitoring and accountability for abuses committed against migrants and refugees.