Libya: Stop the Crackdown on NGOs Supporting Migrants, Refugees and Asylum Seekers

The undersigned organisations, including FIDH and OMCT within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, strongly condemn the Libyan authorities’ latest crackdown on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and their staff, solely for providing humanitarian assistance to migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Libya.

On 2 April 2025, the Tripoli-based Internal Security Agency (ISA), affiliated with the Libyan Presidential Council, announced the “closure of the headquarters” of ten international NGOs supporting migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Libya. The ISA cited the NGOs’ alleged involvement in “hostile activities” and accuses them of conspiring to “settle illegal migrants of African origin in Libya”, a plan it labelled “a hostile act aimed at altering the country’s demographic composition and posing a threat to Libyan society.” The ISA also claimed that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was “implicated in these crimes” and announced it would take “deterrent measures” against it. The ISA further accused the NGOs of promoting “atheism, Christianism, homosexuality and immorality”.

These NGOs provide critical services aimed at safeguarding the right to life, food, housing and health—essential human rights that the Libyan authorities currently struggle to guarantee, particularly for people on the move requiring life-saving humanitarian assistance.

The latest clampdown against NGOs and civil society more broadly did not arise in a vacuum. In March 2025, following a misinformation campaign on social media claiming that the GNU had agreed to resettle migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in the country, Libya witnessed a surge in arbitrary arrests of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. This was also followed by raids by “security forces affiliated with the Ministry of Interior” in several cities, including Tripoli, Misrata and Sabratha, according to Libya Crimes Watch (LCW). The spate of arrests coincided with violent attacks and repeated instances of hate speech inciting racial discrimination and violence against migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Libya.

The signatory organizations condemn the ISA’s unfounded allegations against the impacted NGOs. The ISA’s groundless accusations exacerbate existing xenophobic sentiments and represent a deliberate tactic of scapegoating, especially of Black migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, for Libya’s underlying political and institutional crises. The Libyan authorities’ inflammatory rhetoric not only fuels fear and hostility, but also endangers migrants, refugees and asylum seekers and those working to protect their human rights.
“What we are witnessing is not a series of isolated violations, but a continuous, coordinated and systematic campaign of repression, led by the ISA with the backing and cover of the government, aimed at dismantling civil society and obstructing the work of international humanitarian organizations in Libya. The Libyan authorities bear direct responsibility for this repressive campaign and must be held accountable. The forced closure of these organizations will only exacerbate the already deteriorating humanitarian conditions faced by migrants, refugees and asylum seekers,” said Ali Omar, Director of Libya Crimes Watch.

Moreover, the Libyan authorities, both in the West and East, have repeatedly used bogus security charges to silence activists and independent NGOs, and they have also relied on an unduly restrictive domestic legal framework to clamp down on civil society organizations. By now treating humanitarian NGOs as enemies of the State, the ISA is extinguishing the last vestiges of civic space in Libya.

The Libyan authorities are obligated under international human rights law, as well as Libya’s Interim Constitutional Declaration, to guarantee the right to freedom of association, including by refraining from criminalizing legitimate humanitarian efforts and threatening activists.

The undersigned organizations urgently call on the Libyan authorities, especially the ISA and the GNU, to:
• End all forms of intimidation and harassment targeting staff of humanitarian and civil society organizations across Libya;
• Ensure that all NGOs and humanitarian actors are able to operate freely, safely, and in line with international legal standards, without fear of reprisal; and
• Take immediate steps to end hate speech and incitement to racial discrimination and violence, and to ensure the protection of the human rights, dignity and safety of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Libya.