UN chief urges Libya to shut migrant detention centers

Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, said 22% of those detained in Libya's holding facilities for migrants are children.
Migrants are pictured in the Libyan town of Tajura, about 14 kilometres east of the capital Tripoli, after some 240 illegal migrants of different African nationalities were rescued from the Mediterranean late on February 18, 2020. (Photo by Mahmud TURKIA / AFP) (Photo by MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP via Getty Images)
Migrants are pictured in the Libyan town of Tajura, about 14 kilometres east of the capital Tripoli, after some 240 illegal migrants of different African nationalities were rescued from the Mediterranean late on Feb. 18, 2020. - MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP via Getty Images
Al Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East
Al-Monitor Staff

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres renewed his call for Libya’s authorities to close migrant detention centers across the country, describing a raft of human rights abuses inside the facilities. 

In a report submitted to the Security Council on Thursday, Guterres said more than 2,780 migrants were detained across the war-ravaged country as of July 31. Twenty-two percent of those held are children.

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