Mediaboss Marketing

Refugees and migrants stand on the deck of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms rescue vessel Golfo Azzurro after being rescued by the Italian Coast Guard at 24 miles (46 km) north of Sabratha, Lybia on February 18, 2017 | David Ramos/Getty Images

Centers holding thousands of migrants are cramped, barren and dirty, according to a report by EU officials.

By Esther King

8/5/17, 4:11 PM CET

Sanitary conditions in refugee detention centers in Libya are severely lacking, according to a report drafted by European Union officials and seen by German magazine Der Spiegel.

The conditions are in line withexpectations poor sanitary conditions, insufficientspace andhygiene tohold more than 1,000 refugees in detention,according to the report EU diplomats sent to Brussels following their visit to Tarek al-Sika detention center in Tripoli earlier this year.

The small area dedicated to distributing medication was a sad sight, it added.

According to the report, many refugees who EU diplomats spoke to said they had been held captive at the center for several months, some for more than a year. Many reported having lost essential possessions money, cell phones, identification papers by the time they reached Libya.

Libyan counterparts told EU diplomats refugees were often held in centers until they paid a ransom. Migrants are sometimes even sold back and forth between detention centers, accordingto the report, which dates back to April.

Refugee rights organizations and NGOs such as Doctors Without Borders have criticized conditions in Libyan refugee centers and slammed the EUs cooperation with Libyan authorities to stem the flow of migrants reaching its shores. German diplomats previouslylikened conditionsin detention centers to those in concentration camps.

According to new Italian interior ministry figures, about 11,100migrants made the dangerous crossing to Italy from Northern Africa many of whom travel through Libya in July compared to more than double that amount in the same month in 2016 (just over 23,500).

The reasons behind the summer drop-off are disputed. But according to Eugenio Ambrosi, the EU director at the International Organization for Migration, the impression is that the stock of those who want to leave Libya is running out. Only 20 percent of the migrants who reach Libya try to cross into Europe, he added.

The EU has pushed for greater efforts to facilitate voluntary returns from Libya, a figure that stands at over6,000so far this year compared to 2,700 in the whole of 2016. European institutions have also disbursed millions of euros in funding for African countries.

Originally posted here:
Refugees held in Libya face inhumane conditions: EU diplomats - POLITICO.eu