Amnesty accuses EU of complicity in Libya migrant crackdown

The Amnesty International has accused the European Union of being complicit in a widening crackdown on migrants and refugees in Libya, saying authorities in both the country's eastern and western regions had intensified arrests, detentions and expulsions over the past month.

The rights organisation said the campaign had involved mass arrests in several cities, forced evictions and the expulsion of hundreds of migrants, including people from conflict-ridden Sudan, without being given an opportunity to seek asylum or challenge their deportation.

Libya has remained a major transit point for migrants and refugees seeking to reach Europe since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi. The country remains divided between rival administrations in the east and west.

The EU and its member states have for years supported and trained the Libyan coastguard, which intercepts migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean. Although Brussels formally recognises only the Tripoli-based government, it has expanded contacts with eastern Libyan authorities over the past year.

"The EU has long bankrolled migration control in Libya with its support to the Libyan Coast Guard, which has already made it complicit in horrific violations and abuses," said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty's deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.

"Extending this cooperation to eastern-based armed groups with records of committing war crimes and other abuses with impunity shows a shocking disregard, not only for international law, but also for human life and dignity," she added.

Responding to Amnesty's allegations, a European Commission spokesperson said the bloc was taking measures to ensure its support programmes complied with legal obligations and European values. REUTERS