When NGO workers arrived at the Janzoor detention centre in Libya in October 2018 to collect 11 unaccompanied minors due to be returned to their country of origin, they were shocked to find that the young people had completely disappeared. The failed asylum seekers were registered and ready to go, a staff member at the International Organisation of Migration, who wished to remain anonymous, told Euronews. It took six months to find out what had happened to the group. "They were sold and their families were asked for ransom", the former staff member said. In February 2019, the Libyan government revealed that there were 23 detention centres operating in Libya, holding over 5,000 asylum seekers. While they are officially run by the government, in reality it is Libya's complex patchwork of militias that are in control. Even those ostensibly run by Libya's Directorate for Combatting Illegal Migration (DCIM) are effectively under the control of whichever armed group controls the neighbourhood where a centre is located. Rule of militias Militias, also known as "katibas", are de-facto in control of the gates of the centres and the management. In many cases, migrants and refugees are under arrest in locations which are not… Read full this story
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