Routes to Justice for Migrants in Libya

LFJL is committed to providing routes to justice for migrants and asylum-seekers who have experienced abuses and human rights violations in Libya. Over the past few months, LFJL has been actively involved in advocacy and outreach and has been vocal both nationally and internationally in its pursuit for justice for migrants in Libya. 

LFJL’s Head of Advocacy and Outreach, Marwa Mohamed, has attended several events on migration over the past few months. On 18 November 2019, Mohamed was in Rome representing LFJL on a panel discussion on migration, organised by SaferWorld and Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI). At the event, Mohamed discussed the problematic nature of the Libyan Coast Guard and its training, how the unconditional cooperation with Libyan authorities is harmful and how irresponsible EU policies are exacerbating the issue.  

On 20 November 2019, Mohamed attended a roundtable discussion at the European Parliament in Brussels, organised by the International Commission of Jurists. In that occasion, she discussed the arbitrary detention of thousands of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Libya. She also emphasised the systemic human rights violations and abuses being committed against them, and the absence of options for protection, repatriation and return, including as a result of EU states’ policies.  

We have also been providing legal advice and engaging with diverse stakeholders including law firms and human rights organisations to collaborate on bringing cases of human rights violations in Libya before domestic jurisdictions. This has allowed us to further lay the groundwork for strategic litigation in relation to cases of migrants who have been subjected to torture and ill-treatment in Libya. 

What's next?

To follow up from our last UPR report, LFJL is now entering a new phase of advocacy before the next UPR takes place in May, during which - based on the reports we submitted in October – we will be publishing our recommendations on the rights of migrants to be supported by UN member states.  

The activities described above are contributing to the build-up of our project which is taking shape and that we hope will materialise later this year. We are continuing to find ways to crowd-source in order to build this project.