NGO, Refugees in Libya, yesterday strongly condemned the growing campaign of dehumanization directed against migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in Libya.
The NGO is based in Bologna, Italy. It describes itself as a self-organized refugee movement which exposes abuse in Libya, Tunisia & Niger. It says it documents torture, detention & border violence. It demands accountability from the UNHCR and the EU, and fights for dignity, justice and refugee-led protection.
Refugees in Libya said the most alarming aspect of the recent announcements out of Libya concerning irregular migrants/refugees is not only the threat of mass evictions from their abodes, but the language used to describe human beings. When people are labelled as “infiltrators” rather than individuals, workers, families, refugees, and human beings, the ground is prepared for discrimination, exclusion, and violence.
It asks: Where are these people expected to go?
It reminds that many have fled war, persecution, conflict, and humanitarian catastrophe. Others have spent years living and working in Libya. Stripping them of shelter without providing protection, safe pathways, or humanitarian alternatives does not solve a problem.
It added that the increasing portrayal of Black Africans as a demographic threat, a security threat, or a foreign danger is deeply irresponsible. Such narratives fuel hostility, legitimise abuse, and place thousands of vulnerable people at risk, it added.
Refugees in Libya called on Libyan authorities, international institutions, and political leaders to reject the language of hatred and collective punishment.
No human being is illegal.
No human being should be condemned to homelessness, detention, violence, or death because of their nationality, skin colour, or migration status.
History teaches us that before people are expelled, abused, or abandoned, they are first dehumanized.
We refuse to remain silent while that process unfolds before our eyes, the statement concluded.
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Tripoli based Libyan government reaffirms rejection of settlement of illegal refugees or migrants
