Between Asylum
and Exploitation
Documentation and Analysis of Human Rights Violations and Human Trafficking Against Sudanese Refugees in Libya
Executive Summary
The armed conflict in Sudan since April 2023 has forced large numbers of civilians to leave the country in search of safety. Reaching a third country was supposed to mark the beginning of a safer phase. However, testimonies collected by the Doroty Center indicate that some Sudanese refugees faced a new series of risks in Libya, which sometimes began as soon as they crossed the border and continued throughout their stay, work, and travel.
The testimonies reveal cases of detention lasting from days to months, demands for money in exchange for release, beatings and torture, deprivation of adequate food and water, and detention in unsuitable conditions, in addition to home raids and arrests at workplaces and on the street.
This report documents four cases of Sudanese women and men who endured grave human violations in Libya, including arbitrary detention, torture and other forms of ill-treatment, and extortion. The individuals whose cases are documented in this briefing left Sudan under various circumstances. However, what they all have in common is the search for safety outside a country experiencing armed conflict and widespread violations.
In some cases, witnesses reported that individuals identified themselves as members of security agencies or agencies combating illegal immigration, while others spoke of armed groups or individuals wearing military uniforms without being able to identify the entities to which they belonged.
The testimonies collected by the Doroty Center are consistent with patterns of violations documented by the United Nations in Libya. In their report published in 2026, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights described violations against migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in Libya as widespread and persistent.
Protecting Sudanese refugees in Libya requires measures that go beyond providing emergency humanitarian assistance to include effective legal safeguards, the prevention of arbitrary detention, and the investigation of allegations of torture, extortion, and trafficking.
Methodology
This briefing is based on the testimonies of four Sudanese men and women currently living in Libya. Doroty Center researchers also reviewed available news reports, reports from other non-governmental organizations and United Nations agencies, and documentary evidence provided by witnesses.
Witnesses were informed about the nature and purpose of the research and about how the information would be used. The Doroty Center obtained full informed consent from each person prior to the interview. Witnesses received no compensation or other incentives for their participation.
Given ongoing security concerns, the names of witnesses have been replaced in this briefing with pseudonyms (in italics) and all other information that could identify them has been removed.
Testimonies from Sudanese Refugees
Libya is a transit country and a destination for refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants. The protection situation there is complicated by the multiplicity of actors involved in border management, migration, and detention, as well as the presence of armed groups and smuggling and trafficking networks.
For years, the United Nations has documented serious violations against migrants and refugees in Libya, including unlawful killings, torture and ill-treatment, arbitrary detention, sexual violence, forced labor, extortion, and exploitation.
Ahmed, 28, left Sudan in August 2023 and arrived in Libya via Kufra. He was detained at a location known as "Al-Turkina" with approximately 75 people of various nationalities. He was then transferred to Bani Walid, where detainees were asked to pay approximately $300 per person in exchange for release. His detention lasted 17 days in harsh conditions with beatings and torture.
Ahmed managed to escape after paying $300 to a soldier. He arrived in Tripoli and registered with UNHCR in October 2023, but reported that registration did not provide the protection he had expected. He noted that the demonstrations of June 2026 targeted African migrants and refugees, increasing fears and calls for their expulsion.
Osman, 22, arrived in Libya in 2023 and was detained for approximately three months in an underground facility run by an armed group. Detainees were beaten daily with electrical wires, and some were burned with molten plastic. Osman showed medical reports of his injuries. Two detainees died while in custody and were buried by other detainees.
After escaping, Osman was subjected to repeated arrests, including detention in Abu Salim, Ain Zara, and Tarhuna. On March 31, 2023, he was arrested outside UNHCR headquarters and detained for twenty days. He described sleeping on a ceramic floor, receiving one meal a day, and drinking salty water, which caused a skin condition.
On June 4, 2026, three armed individuals stormed his home in the Karimia area of Tripoli. His wife was separated from him, and his official documents were confiscated even though he had UNHCR-issued documents.
Amira, 22, left Sudan after her father was killed in May 2023. She became the primary breadwinner for her six siblings. On September 8, 2024, five masked armed individuals stormed her home in the Almshro area in Abu Salim. She was beaten with an electric whip while her husband was away. At the time, Amira was two months pregnant; she miscarried the following day and was hospitalized.
Medical reports and photographs exist to verify the incident. Police were notified but took no effective measures to investigate or provide protection. In 2025, her home was attacked again, and on April 6, 2026, she was threatened and robbed near a security headquarters with no intervention from personnel present.
Abdallah, 19, left Sudan in 2024 due to the war. He was detained by Libyan authorities in the Khotron area for one month and released only after paying 3,000 Libyan dinars. After arriving in Tripoli, his residence was raided by an unknown armed group; he was beaten, arrested, and taken to Abu Salim prison, where he was asked to pay 4,000 Libyan dinars for release.
Detainees were subjected to beatings, humiliation, and starvation, receiving only one meal a day of bread and cheese. Abdallah reported being arrested more than four times since arriving in Libya, and noted that three of his friends were arrested on June 4, 2026.
Legal Analysis
The four cases documented in this briefing describe serious violations against Sudanese refugees and migrants in Libya, including arbitrary detention, extortion, torture and other ill-treatment, violence, confiscation of documents and property, and repeated arrests and raids. Several of the accounts also contain circumstances relevant to human trafficking and exploitation.
Libya has ratified several core international treaties which require it to respect, protect, and fulfil the human rights of all individuals within its jurisdiction, including migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees. These include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and the Convention against Torture (UNCAT).
A) Unlawful Detention
International human rights law prohibits arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of liberty. This protection applies to everyone, including migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers, regardless of nationality or migration status.
- Ahmed described being held at "Al-Turkina" and in Bani Walid, where $300 was demanded for release.
- Abdallah was detained for one month and later again following a raid on his residence.
- Osman described repeated arrests and detention in several locations.
- None of the witnesses were informed of a lawful basis for their detention or brought before a judicial authority.
B) Torture and Other Ill-Treatment
Witnesses provided accounts of varying degrees of abuse during detention, ranging from verbal abuse and beatings to the use of electrical wires and burning with molten plastic. Detainees also experienced inadequate conditions, including lack of sanitation, overcrowding, and insufficient food.
These acts may rise to the level of torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, depending on their nature, purpose, duration, and effects.
C) Seizure of Documents
The confiscation of documents, as in the case of Osman, leaves individuals vulnerable to repeated detention, and can make it more difficult to find work, travel freely, and access services and legal protection.
Recommendations
To the Libyan Authorities
To the United Nations and International Organizations
To the Authorities Responsible for Combating Human Trafficking
To Sudanese Civil Society Organizations
Conclusion
The four cases show that the journey of some Sudanese people from the war to seek safety in Libya was not a simple move from a conflict zone to a safe place, but in many instances was a transition from one danger to another.
Some faced detention, extortion, violence, and torture, while others were subjected to home raids, looting of their property, and physical assault; security concerns persisted even after they registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
These incidents cannot be treated as isolated events without examining the links between them. The apparent recurrence of detention, ransom demands, mistreatment, and exploitation— along with the involvement of official entities or armed groups in some accounts— calls for a broader and more independent investigation.
Protecting Sudanese refugees in Libya is not merely a humanitarian issue; it is an obligation tied to respect for human dignity and the right to freedom, safety, and protection from torture, exploitation, and discrimination.
Doroty Center for Justice and Accountability calls for placing the protection of refugees and survivors of abuses at the forefront of any international or local response to the situation of Sudanese nationals in Libya.