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Human Rights Watch (HRW) has strongly criticised the United States’ plan to forcibly transfer migrants to Libya, citing the country’s well-documented inhumane detention conditions, including widespread reports of torture, ill-treatment, sexual assault, and unlawful killings.
In a statement released on Friday, HRW described the US plan as a “dangerous step,” reminiscent of previous European collaborations with Libyan authorities on migration. The rights group warned that such actions could render the US complicit in severe human rights abuses against migrants.
“It is dystopian to pressure a fragile state like Libya, which has a notorious history of horrific detention conditions under the control of unaccountable armed groups, to take in more detainees,” said Hanan Salah, HRW’s associate director for the Middle East and North Africa. “Libya’s ill-treatment of migrants is infamous, its detention centres are hellish, and refugees have no safe place to seek protection.”
Salah further condemned the Trump administration’s approach, saying, “Expelling people to countries with appalling detention conditions reveals the Trump administration’s utter disregard for due process.”
HRW has previously accused the European Union and its member states of being “complicit in serious violations” by returning migrants intercepted at sea to Libya. This has exacerbated the crisis, as European support for the Libyan Coast Guard enables the forced returns, subjecting migrants to arbitrary detention and further abuse.
Reports have surfaced indicating the imminent deportation of migrants from Texas to Libya. Although the plan was reportedly reversed after migrants were transferred to a military airport, HRW pointed out that the hesitation in carrying out the deportations does not signal a policy reversal, especially given the Trump administration’s history of mass deportations to countries like El Salvador and Panama.
HRW concluded with a stark warning: “No government should be complicit in sending people to Libyan hell.”
