A Malian immigrant who was detained in Libya revealed the conditions faced by migrants in these prisons, claiming that African migrants in Libya have no strength left, and they are exhausted.
The 24-year-old Malian told Info Migrants News that had two stays in one of Tripoli’s prisons. “The first time, I was arrested on the outskirts of the city and sent to a detention center, and the second time, I was intercepted at sea,” he explained.
He said he was fortunate that his relatives in Mali had paid a ransom to secure his release from the hands of migrant detention center guards, “Each time, I had to pay a ransom of 3,000 Libyan dinars to get out,” he said.
“The guards treat us badly: they hit us for no reason. They open the cell door and just hit us. Whenever they came to the door, I hid in the back of the room so I wouldn’t be beaten,” he added.
He pointed out that there are about 350 to 400 arrested migrants in each cell, which seems like giant warehouses. He called on the European Union to help the prisoners to return home, “or at least to get them out of prison.”
He noted that the migrants disappear in prison, “If you have the misfortune of not having any contact outside, you can stay there for months. If you stay too long, the Libyans sell you and we don’t know what happens to those poor people,” he concluded.