Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Trump: We want to feed the people in Gaza, we do not want them to starve.
US President Donald Trump: We will impose sanctions on Russia if it does not end the war on Ukraine.
Israeli media: Polls show that 52% oppose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while only 29% support him.
Israeli media: 32% of Americans still support "Israel's" war on Hamas, while 60% oppose it.
Israeli media: Core US support for "Israel" hits its lowest, while support for Palestine reaches its highest levels.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent reports martyrs, injuries in Israeli bombardment of home in Heker al-Jame area in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.
Al-Quds Governorate: Today, the spatial division of Al-Aqsa Mosque began in a public and dangerous manner, and we warn of a religious war in the region
The Ministry of Health in Gaza: This brings the total number of victims of famine and malnutrition to 175, including 93 children
The Ministry of Health in Gaza: Gaza's hospitals recorded six deaths due to starvation and malnutrition in the past 24 hours, all of them adults
Informed sources to Al Mayadeen: A new chapter in relations between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency will begin within the framework of the new law passed by Parliament

Europe's Detention Hell-Hole in Libya: Migrants Raped, Tortured, Beaten

  • By Al Mayadeen Net
  • Source: The New Yorker
  • 1 Dec 2021 23:25
  • 1 Shares
4 Min Read

The EU planned and funded a detention facility in Libya that kidnaps migrants before they reach Europe.

  • x
  • The EU's Detention Facility in Libya: Rape, Torture and Beatings
    Migrants sit in the courtyard of a detention center in Libya (UNICEF)

The New Yorker, in collaboration with The Outlaw Ocean Project, an investigative non-profit that probes into lawlessness at sea, got to the bottom of something akin to a prison-hell that has been kidnapping migrants and throwing them into a cement-depot-turned-prison in Tripoli, Libya.

Many of the migrants reported in the investigative piece came from countries like Guinea-Bissau, Cameroon, and Ivory Coast. 

The cement storage depot, according to the news article, reopened in January 2021, with higher walls and barbed wire on the fences to prevent escape. The storage was dubbed 'al-Mabani', which is Arabic for The Buildings, and it is a detention facility.

On the gate, there was a sign that wrote “Directorate for Combatting Illegal Migration," and armed guards in blue and black guarded a blue-colored shipping container - presumably an office - which ran a prison that trapped in over 6,000 migrants - as of September 2021 - merely crossing the Mediterranean before being interrupted by Libyan Coast Guards. 

The Libyan Coast Guard may enjoy a name that sounds official, but it is rather a militia-backed and EU-funded group. The Trust Fund of the European Union pitched in tens of millions of dollars to strengthen the Libyan Coast Guards, turning them into a menacing proxy force. 

The New Yorker narrates the story of Aliou Cande, a migrant from Guinea-Bissau, who, at 3 AM, arrived in Al-Mabani: On a rubber dinghy holding more than a hundred migrants, on his way to join his two brothers in Europe, a Libyan Coastal Guard caught them and dragged them to the prison, pushing them into Cell No.4, which already held over 200 victims. 

There was no way anyone could know if one was kidnapped in Al-Mabani except through using one of the guards' phones, which the migrants had to pay for. Migrants argued who got to sleep in the shower because it had more ventilation, 'food' was presented in dog bowls, and there was just a toilet for every hundred migrants. Non-governmental organizations and human rights firms documented abuses which include victims being regularly abused and beaten and electric-shocked, children being raped by the guards, men and women being sold into forced labor. 

Related News

South Sudan seeks sanctions relief in US deportation talks

EU watchdog says new pact could deter weaponization of migrants

Now, who funded all this? The European Union. 

“The E.U. did something they carefully considered and planned for many years,” Salah Marghani, Libya’s Minister of Justice from 2012 to 2014, told The New Yorker. “Create a hellhole in Libya, with the idea of deterring people from heading to Europe.”

In the past six years, according to The New Yorker, the EU has fretted over the financial and political costs of dealing with migrants, particularly from sub-Saharan Africa, and has created a 'shadow immigration system' to curb migrants before reaching Europe. 

The EU did this by training and equipping a quasi-military organization - the Libyan Coast Guard - to sabotage humanitarian rescue operations and kidnap migrants crossing the Mediterranean. 

Al-Mabani is a profitable place, at least for the guards - the captured were made to pay around 2,500 Libyan dinars, the equivalent of $500, if they were to break free from the prison. 

The journalists were beaten, too

The research team of journalists was beaten, looted, and threatened by the EU-funded coast guard. The writer, Ian Urbina, was dragged from his hotel room, "One [armed man] held a gun to my forehead and yelled, “Get on the floor!” They placed a hood over my head, kicked and punched me, and stepped on my face, leaving me with two broken ribs, blood in my urine, and damage to my kidneys. Then they dragged me from the room."

The team was taken to an interrogation room where Urbina was beaten again, and his colleagues were intimidated and sexually harassed. The team's belts and jewelry were looted from them, and the writer was placed in an isolation cell. 

The captors, who claimed to be the Libyan Intelligence Service, told Urbina during the interrogation that it was illegal to interview migrants about abuses in al-Mabani.

The Libyan Intelligence Service is an arm for the National Unity government, which also happens to administer and supervise al-Mabani. 

  • Migrant Crisis
  • Europe
  • Libya
  • European Union

Most Read

A rescued crew member from the ETERNITY C vessel in a video released by the Yemeni Armed Forces on July 28, 2025 (Yemeni Military Media)

Yemen Navy reveals fate of targeted Eternity C ship crew

  • Politics
  • 28 Jul 2025
An Israeli tank explodes following an ambush by al-Qassam Brigades in Gaza, Occupied Palestine, undated (Al-Qassam Military Media)

Al-Qassam strikes Israeli vehicles in Gaza, inflicts casualties

  • Politics
  • 30 Jul 2025
UAE lodges complaint against Israeli ambassador over 'misbehavior'

UAE lodges complaint against Israeli ambassador over 'misbehavior'

  • Politics
  • 1 Aug 2025
An explosion seen during an Iranian missile attack on Tel Aviv, Occupied Palestine, June 13, 2025 (AP)

If Iran is attacked again, geography of response may change: IRGC spox

  • Politics
  • 30 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
A member of the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, takes part in a parade as he celebrates a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and the Israeli regime in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, January 19, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Al-Qassam: We’ll allow aid to Israeli captives if Gaza siege ends

Freed Lebanese freedom fighter Georges Abdallah during an interview on Al Mayadeen, which aired on Sunday, August 3, 2025 (Al Mayadeen screengrab)
Politics

Exclusive: Resistance key to building state, Georges Abdallah says

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres gives a statement about the situation in Gaza at UN headquarters, Friday, June 27, 2025 (AP)
Politics

UN warns Gaza faces water crisis, looming famine under Israeli siege

Israeli soldiers drive their armored personnel carrier along the Gaza Strip, in southern occupied Palestine, Wednesday, July 30, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Ex-Israeli general says Gaza starvation campaign isolated 'Israel'

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS