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
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DRC: In the fight against Ebola, bikers transporting dead bodies hold key to community engagement - WHO
From the frontlines of the deadliest-ever Ebola Bundibugyo outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) shared details on Tuesday of a massive push for community engagement, a day after yet another ambulance attack.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNFPA
Sudan: The harrowing reality of giving birth in a war zone
Sudanese women about to give birth are losing their babies and sometimes their own lives because of a lack of specialist healthcare support, amid the ongoing war, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
Colombia earthquake: International teams ready to support, says UN
As earthquake rescue efforts across western Colombia continued on Tuesday, UN agencies said that they stood ready to help “with everything we've got” if and when the request came from the authorities.
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | HRC
Myanmar's military has carried out a sustained campaign of deliberate attacks on civilians – including airstrikes on homes, schools and camps for displaced people, alongside arbitrary detention, torture and sexual violence – Human Rights Council-appointed investigators said on Tuesday.
1
6
1
1
Edited News | UNOG
In a new twist on panda diplomacy, UN Geneva welcomed five young peacocks to the Palace of Nations on Friday, a gift of India that preserves a tradition of keeping the stately birds in the grounds, that predates both the global body and its ill-fated predecessor, the League of Nations.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Afghanistan’s hunger crisis intensifies as millions go without food aid – WFP
Afghanistan’s dire hunger crisis now affects 14 million people including babies fed on weak tea and a little bread by their despairing and dirt-poor parents.
In a new alert on Tuesday, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that one in three Afghans is now in the grip of acute food insecurity and that it lacks the resources to contain the deepening crisis.
1
1
2
Edited News | IOM
From fake jobs to forced crime: IOM sounds alarm on human trafficking behind online scams
A job offer can conceal a criminal network and a single click can lead to a nightmare. Lured by false promises of legitimate employment abroad, hundreds of thousands of people are being trafficked each year, held captive and forced to carry out online scams.
Ahead of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons marked on 30 July, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is raising the alarm over a rapidly expanding multibillion-dollar criminal industry that turns job seekers into victims of forced cybercrime.
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
In Sudan’s El Obeid, women risk drone attacks by day and rape by night to access water
As war intensifies in the city of El Obeid in North Kordofan state, filling up a jerrycan of water comes at a high risk for women and girls: by day, drones strike water points and by night, women who venture out to fill a bucket risk rape. UN Women warns of a dual terror that has turned access to water into a deadly gamble.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights spokesperson Shabia Mantoo made the following remarks on stranded Hormuz seafarers abandoned for months at sea, at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press conference in Geneva, Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Danielle Bell, head of UN Human Rights’ Ukraine team, spoke of the deepening impact of the war on the civilian population.
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva, UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan made the following remarks Intensified Israeli attacks in Gaza.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DR Congo: Ebola outbreak continues to expand, WHO sees signs of stabilization
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UN health teams and partners are still racing to contain the rapidly expanding Ebola outbreak, despite ongoing insecurity in eastern areas where the virus has taken hold. As of 19 July, the DRC Government has recorded 2,423 confirmed cases, including 967 deaths and 469 patient recoveries.