A full 85 percent of migrants arriving in Italy from Sub-Saharan Africa have been subjected to torture as well as degrading and inhumane treatment during their time in Libya, according to the Italian non-profit Doctors for Human Rights (MEDU).
The organization gathered data this year from its mobile clinic in Rome, where it has provided assistance to over 600 migrants recently arrived in Italy. It said 85 percent of the migrants underwent torture and inhumane treatment during their time in Libya. Of those, 79 percent were detained/ imprisoned in overcrowded sites with deplorable health and hygiene conditions; 60 percent were subject to constant deprivation in terms of food, water, and medical care; and 55 percent were repeatedly beaten severely.
Lower, but still significant, percentages of migrants were raped, burned, whipped on the soles of their feet (falaka), tortured by being hung, and forced to witness torture or killings, as well as other abuses. MEDU said the numbers represent "a faithful picture of the systematic violence to which all migrants who reach our country through Libya are subjected".
Libya 'a concentration camp' with unspeakable atrocities
MEDU called Libya "a concentration camp where the atrocities being committed against migrants are comparable to those of the worst death camps of the 20th century". It said the Italian agreement with Libya to provide naval support to the authorities there "leaves tens of thousands of migrants trapped in the territory of the North African country".
It said this has already been evidenced by the "drastic" drop in arrivals in Italy in the month of July and the first days of August. 'We need to safeguard essential human rights' "We certainly don't want here to contest the right and duty of a State to govern migrant flows, but rather to emphasize that it needs to happen without ever compromising the safeguarding of essential human rights," MEDU said.
"And it's a fact that the Italian-Libyan accord is now violating this principle and that the seriousness of the crimes committed against men, women, and child migrants a few hundred miles off our coasts demands a response on the part of Italy, the European Union, and the entire international community that still wants to recognize itself within the law", MEDU added.