Libya Rescues More Than 200 Migrants, Including Somalis, from Kufra Secret Prison

TRIPOLI, Libya — Libyan security forces have rescued more than 200 migrants from a clandestine underground prison in the southeastern town of Kufra, exposing what authorities described as brutal and degrading detention conditions along one of the world’s deadliest migration routes.

Officials said the detainees — including women and children from sub-Saharan Africa, primarily Somalia and Eritrea — were found in multiple cells nearly three meters below ground. Some had been held for up to two years. The suspected trafficker believed to have run the site remains at large as investigators continue to search for accomplices and other locations, according to security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

The rescue underscores the entrenched dangers faced by migrants transiting eastern Libya toward the Mediterranean in hopes of reaching Europe. Kufra, a remote desert hub about 1,700 kilometers (1,055 miles) southeast of Tripoli, sits astride long-established smuggling corridors that funnel people north after arduous crossings from Sudan, Chad and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

Authorities who conducted the raid described the site as an improvised, underground complex where detainees endured extreme cruelty. Several of those rescued required urgent medical care for malnutrition, dehydration and injuries consistent with prolonged captivity. Officials said up to 10 survivors recently freed from captivity in the area showed clear signs of torture.

The discovery comes amid mounting evidence of widespread abuse of migrants in eastern Libya. Last week, security officials reported that at least 21 migrant bodies were found in a mass grave in the region. In February last year, Libyan authorities recovered 39 bodies from roughly 55 mass graves in and around Kufra, underscoring the town’s grim centrality to trans-Saharan trafficking networks.

Human rights organizations have for years documented arbitrary detention, torture and forced labor in Libya’s patchwork of official and unofficial facilities. They have urged authorities to curb the influence of trafficking groups, end impunity for abuses and establish credible protections for people on the move. The latest rescue, rights advocates say, again highlights the need for clear accountability and safe pathways that reduce reliance on smugglers.

Kufra’s security environment has grown more complex since conflict erupted in Sudan in 2023, sending tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees across the border into Libya’s southeast. The influx has strained local services and provided cover for trafficking networks that exploit desperate families seeking passage or work.

Libyan authorities said the rescued migrants were transferred to care facilities for medical treatment and assistance. It was not immediately clear whether they would be repatriated, resettled or granted protected status inside Libya. Officials did not release a timeline for any legal proceedings against the suspected ringleader or others involved in the operation.

The raid in Kufra is the latest in a series of episodic crackdowns that reveal the scale of clandestine detention in Libya’s east. But without sustained enforcement and cross-border cooperation, officials and rights groups warn, underground prisons like the one uncovered this week are likely to reappear along the same desert routes that have claimed so many lives.

By Ali Musa

Axadle Times international–Monitoring.