Nigerian Migrant Worker Burned Alive at a Factory in Libya

A Nigerian migrant worker was burned alive after three men stormed a factory in Tripoli, doused him with petrol, and set him on fire, according to a statement that was released by the Libyan interior ministry. This is considered as another case added to the list of reported attacks on migrants in the north African country.

Nigerian migrant worker set on fire

The United Nations had also released a statement, calling the man's death as another senseless crime against migrants in the country.

According to the statement released by Tripoli's interior ministry on October 14, the suspects, all Libyan nationals, had been detained for the attack on the Nigerian migrant worker, who was not named for privacy reasons.

The witness testimony cited by the ministry described how the three men stormed the factory and set the Nigerian migrant worker on fire.

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Federico Soda, the head of the UN's International Organization of Migration mission in Libya, wrote on Twitter and said that they were horrified by the killing of a Nigerian migrant worker in Tripoli, Libya.

Soda added that the Nigerian migrant worker being burned alive was another senseless crime against migrants in Libya, and the three men responsible must be held accountable.

Libya, a war-torn country, has been accused of being a dangerous place for migrants and refugees to settle. Many of the migrants and refugees in the country pass through Libya in an attempt to reach safer places in Europe. Many of the migrants and refugees are intercepted by European authorities and are forcefully returned to Libya.

Migrants in Libya

In September, Amnesty International released a report that detailed the horrific and inhumane cycles of abuses that migrants in Libya experienced. The abuses include unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, rape, and torture. The organization said that the COVID-19 pandemic had exacerbated the abuse.

Diana Eltahawy, the Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa of the rights group, said in the report that instead of being protected, the migrants are met with numerous appalling human rights abuses. The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the racism and xenophobia in the country.

Eltahawy added that despite the current situation of the migrants and refugees, the EU and its member states are still implementing harmful policies that trap thousands of men, women, and children in a cycle of abuse, disregarding the dignity and lives of the people who are looking for solace.

In August 2020, over 45 migrants died in a shipwreck off of the Libyan coast. More than 7,000 people who were on the journey have been returned to Libya in 2020, according to the report of the UN Refugee Agency.

Thousands of migrants and refugees are believed to have ended up in detention centers in some parts of Libya controlled by the internationally-recognized government in Tripoli.

In 2017, a CNN team reported about dozens of men being sold in a slave auction in Libya, which opened an investigation into the modern slave markets.

The United Nations human rights office also reported about the modern slave market in Libya. Migrants and refugees who were able to escape the system are now speaking out about their horrific experiences.