Forced refugee returns to Libya must end

Last weekend, the Libyan coast guard captured more than 400 refugees and migrants fleeing on boats across the Mediterranean to Europe. According to the International Organization for Migration, most were forced back into detention centers. The Libyan coast guard has intercepted and returned more than 2,500 people since January and around 40,000 since 2017; many—if not most—were forcibly detained. This cannot continue to happen.

One year ago, the Women’s Refugee Commission published a report highlighting the severe sexual violence inflicted on refugees and migrants in Libya, particularly in detention centers and unofficial places of captivity. We met with refugees, including survivors, and frontline service providers and heard from them directly about the atrocities being perpetrated against refugees and migrants in Libya.