The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al Kheetan on UN report on Migrants in Libya victims of violent business model of systemic violations and abuses
These are the findings of a new report by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Support Mission in Libya – covering the period from January 2024 to December 2025.
“The report describes how migrants are rounded up and abducted by criminal trafficking networks, often with ties to Libyan authorities, and to criminal networks abroad. They are separated from their families, arrested and transferred to detention facilities without due process, often at gunpoint, in what amounts to arbitrary detention,” Al-Kheetan said.
“In detention, migrants are routinely subjected to horrific violations and abuses, including slavery, torture, ill-treatment, forced labour, forced prostitution and other forms of sexual violence, ransom and extortion,” Al-Kheetan added.
The report uncovers an “exploitative model preying on migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees in situations of heightened vulnerability [that] has become ‘business as usual’ – a brutal and normalised reality.”
“Migrants also described horrific attempts to cross the central Mediterranean. Interceptions by Libyan actors were frequently dangerous and involved threats, hazardous manoeuvres, and excessive use of force, putting people’s lives at risk. Those intercepted are often forcibly returned to Libya, where they risk facing the same cycle of abuse,” said Al-Kheetan.
Suki Nagra, the UN Human Rights Representative for the UN Mission in Libya, who joined the briefing remotely, shared some of the horrific testimonies that are documented in the report, ” A Nigerian woman, who was trafficked to Libya in 2021, endured two years of forced sexual servitude in Tripoli before being moved to a household in Zuwara following a police raid, where she was forced into domestic slavery, denying her freedom and wages. She left Libya in February 2025.”
“There are no words to describe the never-ending nightmare these people are forced into, only to feed the mounting greed of traffickers and those in power profiting from a system of exploitation,” Al-Kheetan said.
The report also decries frequent collective expulsion from Libya to other countries. These occur without examination of each individual’s case, breaching the prohibition of collective expulsions, and denying the right to seek asylum.
“We call on the Libyan authorities to release immediately all those arbitrarily detained in both unofficial and official detention centres, to cease dangerous interception practices, and to decriminalise irregular entry, stay and exit,” the spokesperson said.
“We urge the international community, including the European Union, to establish a moratorium on interceptions and returns to Libya until adequate human rights safeguards are ensured,” he said
For more information and media requests, please contact
In Geneva:
Thameen Al-Kheetan: +41 22 917 4232 /thameen.alkheetan@un.org
Tag and share - X: @UNHumanRights and Facebook: unitednationshumanrights
STORY: UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan and Suki Nagra representative in Libya for UN Human Rights on UN report on Migrants in Libya - victims of “violent business model”
TRT: 03:20
SOURCE: OHCHR/ UNOG
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: English/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 17 February 2026, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior shot: Palais des Nations
- Interior shot : Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)—Thameen Al-Kheetan, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “Migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers in Libya are subjected to ruthless and systematic human rights violations and abuses, which include killings, torture, sexual violence and trafficking.”
- Cut away: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)—Thameen Al-Kheetan, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The report describes how migrants are rounded up and abducted by criminal trafficking networks, often with ties to Libyan authorities, and to criminal networks abroad. They are separated from their families, arrested and transferred to detention facilities without due process, often at gunpoint, in what amounts to arbitrary detention.”
- Cut away: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)—Thameen Al-Kheetan, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “In detention, migrants are routinely subjected to horrific violations and abuses, including slavery, torture, ill-treatment, forced labour, forced prostitution and other forms of sexual violence, ransom and extortion.”
- Cut away: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)—Thameen Al-Kheetan, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “Migrants also described horrific attempts to cross the central Mediterranean. Interceptions by Libyan actors were frequently dangerous and involved threats, hazardous manoeuvres, and excessive use of force, putting people’s lives at risk. Those intercepted are often forcibly returned to Libya, where they risk facing the same cycle of abuse.”
- Cut away: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)—Suki Nagra, the UN Human Rights Representative for the UN Mission in Libya: “We received information from a Nigerian woman, who was trafficked to Libya in 2021, and she endured two years of forced sexual servitude in Tripoli before being moved to a household in Zuwara following a police raid, where she was then again forced into domestic slavery, denying her freedom and wages. And then she left Libya in February 2025.”
- Cut away: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)—Thameen Al-Kheetan, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “There are no words to describe the never-ending nightmare these people are forced into, only to feed the mounting greed of traffickers and those in power profiting from a system of exploitation.”
- Cut away: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)—Thameen Al-Kheetan, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “We call on the Libyan authorities to release immediatelyall those arbitrarily detained in both unofficial and official detention centres, to cease dangerous interception practices, and to decriminalise irregular entry, stay and exit.”
- Cut away: Briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English)—Thameen Al-Kheetan, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “We urge the international community, including the European Union, to establish a moratorium on interceptions and returns to Libya until adequate human rights safeguards are ensured.”
Similar Stories
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | IAEA
The head of the UN’s atomic energy agency on Thursday welcomed the signing of an initial Iran-US memorandum aimed at ending the war, before proposing “to sit down” with both parties to assist with concrete measures including verification of Iran’s nuclear programme, a critical sticking point.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , IFRC
‘Some people question whether Ebola is real’: trust is central in fighting DRC outbreak, humanitarians say
In Ebola-stricken Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), winning the race against the disease requires earning the community’s trust first and foremost, humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Monday 15 June delivered his Global Update to the 62nd UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
2
1
1
Statements , Conferences , Edited News | HRC
As representatives of Iran and the United States reportedly prepared to sign a new peace agreement at the end of the week, the UN on Monday stressed the urgent need to open an aid corridor to transit the choked-off Strait of Hormuz and prevent a global hunger crisis.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNICEF
DR Congo: Ebola spreads as agencies brace for child infections
The deadly Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is continuing to spread with a spike in child infections an increasingly likely scenario, UN agencies said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Community trust and lab testing at the heart of DRC Ebola response – WHO
In Ebola-stricken eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) a massive push for early testing and contact tracing is underway to contain the virus, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNFPA
The UN in Lebanon appealed for an additional $331.5 million on Friday to help 1.4 million people in crisis as already massive needs continue to grow, three months after deadly violence erupted between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL
UN Security Council meets amid rising Israel-Hezbollah tensions in Lebanon.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the biweekly press briefing in Geneva, UN Human Rights spokesperson made the following remarks deplored the death in State custody of Brooklyn Rivera in Nicaragua.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Lebanon: Tyre hospital strikes leave patients without critical care – WHO
The UN health agency in Lebanon is verifying reports of strikes on a hospital in the southern city of Tyre on Monday, amid a concerning rise in attacks on healthcare in the country.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WMO
El Niño confirmed, extreme weather events will be more intense, says WMO
The UN urged all countries on Tuesday to bolster early warning systems after confirming the onset of El Niño, warning that the Pacific Ocean-warming phenomenon will bring above-average temperatures “nearly everywhere” and fuel more extreme weather.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
‘A disease you get when you care for someone’: on the frontlines of the Ebola crisis with WHO
Two weeks into the latest Ebola outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) is estimating that there are 906 suspected cases of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including 223 suspected deaths.