Libya Rescues Over 200 Migrants, Including Somalis, from Kufra Secret Prison

Libya rescues more than 200 migrants from underground prison in Kufra as abuse allegations mount

TRIPOLI, Libya — Libyan security forces have rescued more than 200 migrants from a clandestine underground detention site in the southeastern town of Kufra, where authorities say victims were held in brutal, degrading conditions for months and, in some cases, years.

Security officials said the migrants were discovered in an improvised prison nearly three meters (about 10 feet) below ground, allegedly run by a Libyan trafficker. The facility comprised several underground cells hewn into the earth. Some detainees had been confined for up to two years, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

“Some of the migrants had been detained in these underground cells for up to two years,” one security official said. Another official called the discovery “one of the most serious crimes against humanity uncovered in the region,” describing “inhumane detention conditions that reflect extreme cruelty.”

The group included women and children from sub-Saharan Africa, primarily Somalia and Eritrea, the officials said. The rescued migrants were transferred to care facilities for medical treatment and immediate assistance. Authorities did not disclose plans for longer-term protection, relocation or possible repatriation.

Kufra lies in eastern Libya, about 1,700 kilometers (1,055 miles) southeast of the capital, Tripoli. The isolated desert outpost has long served as a key staging point for smugglers moving people along treacherous routes to the Mediterranean coast, where migrants try to reach Europe.

The suspected trafficker believed to have operated the site remains at large, officials said, and investigations are underway.

The rescue comes amid mounting evidence of systematic abuse against migrants in eastern Libya. Just last week, security officials said at least 21 bodies were found in a mass grave in the region. Two officials told Reuters that up to 10 survivors freed from captivity showed clear signs of torture.

In February last year, Libyan authorities said they recovered 39 migrant bodies from about 55 mass graves in and around Kufra, underscoring the town’s grim role on trans-Saharan trafficking corridors. Kufra has also absorbed tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees who fled fighting that erupted in Sudan in 2023, straining local services and complicating security in the remote border area.

International human rights organizations have repeatedly documented arbitrary detention, torture and forced labor of migrants in Libya, and have urged greater accountability for trafficking networks as well as stronger protections for those intercepted or rescued along one of the world’s deadliest migration routes.

Libyan authorities said medical evaluations and support are ongoing for the rescued migrants. Humanitarian groups have cautioned that without durable legal pathways and oversight of detention practices, rescues alone will not end the cycle of exploitation driven by conflict, poverty and the high-risk smuggling economy that runs through Libya’s vast desert south.

By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.