Some of those trying to flee Africa in their quest for a better living place are now reported to have been imprisoned and sexually abused. This, as Libyan guards are accused of sexually assaulting migrants, in this case some teenagers.
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Many people have fled Africa to search for a better living place during the pandemic, which is believed to have triggered a migrant crisis in Europe.
When Libyan security forces rescued her earlier this year, the 17-year-old Somali teenage girl thought it would be the end of her suffering in Africa. But, her words might send chills down your spine: For more than two years, she had been imprisoned and sexually abused by human traffickers notorious for sexually assaulting, torturing and extorting migrants like her, who believe the grass is always greener on the other side.
Instead, the 17-year-old said, the sexual assaults against her have continued at the government-run center in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, where the migrants are being kept after being rescued by Libyan security forces.
She and four other Somali teenagers being abused are pleading to be released from that detention center.
“While it is not the first time I suffer from sexual attacks, this is more painful as it was done by the people who should protect us”, the 17-year-old said. The young woman doesn’t want to be identified because of fearing reprisals.
The group of teens being abused are the only migrants being kept at Shara al-Zawiya center, a facility where migrants usually stay for a short period of time for processing.
Against any types of sexual abuse, United Nations refugee agency has documented hundreds of cases involving women being raped while staying in detention centers, while some even being impregnated by guards as a result of being raped, as giving birth during detention.
Sexual violence during detention is not uncommon, as human smugglers and traffickers in Libya – many of them members of militia – have long been notorious for their involvement in brutalising migrants.
U.N. human rights groups have vowed to stop sexual assaults in one way or another.
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