Libya: hell for ex-Syrian mercenaries who tried to cross into Europe
More than 350 migrants intercepted by the Libyan coast guard in a detention center in Libya, in January 2018. © Ansa
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3 min
In Libya, for years, thousands of Africans have been imprisoned in detention centers where they have suffered all kinds of abuses.
Among them are many Syrian migrants, who had chosen to become mercenaries in order to be able to cross to Europe.
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The migrants who are in these centers are
intercepted by the Libyan coast guard
while crossing the Mediterranean and brought back to these centers.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory (OEDH), based in Geneva, denounces this week the “
inhuman practices of the Libyan authorities
” against hundreds of Syrians, detained for four months in these Libyan centers.
They are said to be 800 Syrians imprisoned in four detention centers in and around Tripoli, according to the OEDH.
These men, all taken to Libya as mercenaries on behalf of Turkey, prefer to drop their weapons to reach Europe.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), these fighters have also agreed to go to Libya with the firm intention of heading to Europe.
On several occasions, since 2020, Rami Abderrahmane, who heads this NGO, had announced the death, during the crossing, of Syrians traveling among other African migrants.
Beaten, tortured, ...
In Libyan prisons, Syrians detained suffer the same abuses as all migrants who are intercepted by the Libyan authorities while trying to reach Europe.
They are beaten, tortured, exposed to multiple violations, do not have enough to eat and do not have access to drinking water or medicine.
They are also racketed and sometimes pay $ 1,000 to regain their freedom.
The OEDH considers that the Libyan government which directs these centers is responsible for "all the arbitrary practices" which prevail there.
In 2020, the Khalifa Haftar camp accused Turkey of encouraging the immigration to Europe of these fighters who are said to be at least 1,000 to have arrived in Lampedusa.
► Listen again:
Mediterranean: illegal refoulements of migrants to Libya are becoming commonplace
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