Good morning.
For all its many public statements on defending rights and saving lives, the European Commission can no longer pretend that its dealings with Libya are anything but a containment policy to prevent people from seeking refuge in Europe.
The United Nations dropped its latest report on Libya on Tuesday (17 February), a 47-page indictment into the widespread and systematic abuse of people attempting to flee a country by the very forces supported by the Brussels-executive.
Slavery, torture, and forced prostitution have now become “business as usual” and a normalised reality for those sometimes apprehended at sea and returned to Libya by the EU-backed Libyan coast guard.
Testimonies recount girls, as young as 14, being raped multiple times at a trafficking house in Tobruk, eastern Libya.
The report, spanning January 2024 to December 2025, uncovers an “exploitative model preying on migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees.”
A section dedicated to the European Union says its mission to the country supports Libyan operations in border areas where people are at a high risk of abuse, including trafficking, arbitrary detention, torture, forced labour and modern slavery.
It also handed over roughly €65m to Libya for initiatives related to migration control, border management, and protection measures between 2015 and 2021, with funding commitments now extended through 2027.
And earlier this year, the European Commission confirmed it was financing a new search-and-rescue centre in Benghazi, in the eastern region of Libya, under commander Khalifa Haftar’s control.
Magnus Brunner, the EU’s home affairs commissioner, once described the Libyan authorities as a “bit dodgy”. His predecessor went further and said the Libyan coast guard was infiltrated by criminal gangs.
Last month, Brunner presented the latest commission strategy on migration as one built around saving lives.
“We shouldn’t forget that any smuggling trip prevented is potentially a life which we save also,” he told reporters.
Tell that to the 14-year olds in Tobruk.
Nikolaj Nielsen, home-affairs editor
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