The Committee for Justice (CFJ) has documented a wave of arrests targeting hundreds of Sudanese refugees across several Libyan cities, amid growing anti-migrant protests demanding tougher measures against foreigners.
According to Sudanese press sources, one refugee reported that police forces raided dozens of homes in Sabratha at dawn on Sunday, September 28, arresting entire Sudanese families—including children—and transferring them to detention centers described as “inhumane.” He added that the arrests came in direct response to local demonstrations rejecting the presence of foreigners, further worsening the plight of Sudanese fleeing the war in their country.
In Tripoli, eyewitnesses confirmed that the Department for Combating Illegal Immigration, in cooperation with Ghout al-Shaal police, conducted a night raid that led to the arrest of dozens of Sudanese refugees. Survivors said police blocked roads, stopped passersby, and even forced some Sudanese families from their rented homes on the grounds of lacking valid residency permits.
For its part, the Libyan Interior Ministry stated that the campaign in Sabratha was led by the field committee of the city’s Joint Security Room. The ministry claimed the operation targeted “sites harboring irregular migrants” and resulted in the arrest of hundreds, alongside legal measures against property owners who had rented to them.
UNHCR estimates that Libya currently hosts around 357,000 Sudanese refugees, with major concentrations in Kufra, Tripoli, and Benghazi, and smaller communities in Misrata, Zawiya, Jafara, Derna, and Tobruk.
The crackdown coincided with demonstrations on September 26 in several Libyan cities. In Tripoli, protesters chanted slogans such as “Libya is not a place for refugees” and “No to resettling migrants.” In Misrata, protests escalated into violence, with crowds attacking a slum market inhabited by migrants, expelling its residents, and accusing them of contributing to rising crime, illegal weapons possession, and disorderly settlements.
Against this backdrop, Committee for Justice urges the Libyan authorities to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law, ensure that Sudanese refugees are not endangered or subjected to forced return, and guarantee them legal protections, safe passage, and urgent humanitarian assistance. CFJ further stressed the need to combat and refrain from promoting hate speech that fuels hostility and violence against refugees and migrants.