It is a cycle of captivity and exploitation, violence and abuse from which there seems to be no escape. That's according to the latest study on refugees in Libya by the Women's Refugee Commission, an international nongovernmental organization. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that there are around 670,000 migrants in the North African country. It is believed that between 5,000 to 6,000 people are being held in camps there.
Employees of the Women's Refugee Commission interviewed survivors in Italy and, among other sources, spoke with crews of rescue ships. "On their journey through the desert, many refugees are kidnapped by human traffickers and armed groups or taken to official prisons," Sarah Chynoweth, the study's author, told DW. She explained that violence, including sexual torture, is common in these camps: "It is filmed in order to put pressure on families to send money for their relatives' release. Those who cannot pay are resold or murdered."
The details of the torture methods are difficult to imagine. Chynoweth called the intensity and methods of sexual violence shocking. Men and women are forced to rape others, penises are cut off, and women are abused and raped until they bleed to death. Boys have to rape their sisters. "If someone had told me this before, I would never have believed it. You can only believe it if you have seen it with your own eyes," reported a survivor from Gambia.
According to the Women's Refugee Commission's report, sexual violence is perpetrated for a number of reasons. As well as being used for blackmail, the attacks are also carried out for the entertainment of security guards, and to punish and kill people who are considered worthless. "If a man tries to escape, all other men are forced to rape him. People are regularly punished, forced into submission and controlled," said Chynoweth.
When it became known that people in Libya were being sold as slaves, EU representatives promised to evacuate them and bring them to Europe legally. Pro Asyl is critical of how this has been handled: "This process has been so slow and there are so few countries willing to accept them that the UNHCR says these people must stay in detention camps until there are places for them. These people's suffering is linked to an inhuman European refugee policy."
The sexual violence in Libyan detention camps is only the tip of the iceberg. The camps' living conditions are dismal. Kopp described how they are overcrowded, people are starving and almost every woman is a victim of sexual attacks. "There have also been shootings during protests. The EU must do everything it can to put an end to this," Kopp said. "What this means is that the EU is supporting these human rights violations because it is only focused on one issue: As few people as possible should come to Europe via the Mediterranean."
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