Security sources have disclosed that approximately 80 Egyptian minors are currently being held by security authorities in the Libyan city of Zawiya. These minors were apprehended in successive groups over recent weeks while attempting to join irregular migration convoys crossing the Mediterranean Sea towards Europe.
Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar quoted a Libyan security source stating that the detainees have been transferred to a detention facility in the city, where they are undergoing investigation. The source explained that the majority of the children originate from impoverished governorates in Egypt and have fallen victim to the human trafficking networks operating actively along Libya’s western coast.
Citing its own sources, the newspaper reported that the dozens of Egyptian minors face harsh conditions within their places of detention in Libya. These concerns are escalating amid a growing deterioration in the conditions of irregular migrant detention centers across the country, which continues to suffer from political fragmentation and ongoing security conflicts.
In response to the situation, various human rights organisations and activists have urgently called upon both the Libyan and Egyptian authorities to intervene immediately to ensure the safety of the detained minors and facilitate their secure repatriation. The activists stressed that their continued detention under the current circumstances constitutes a grave violation of fundamental children’s rights and the international laws designed to protect them.
