Libya: A human marketplace

This report narrates the brutal reality of human trafficking in the complex tribal society of the post-Gaddafi Libya, laying bare an unfolding humanitarian crisis in which illegal migrants, refugees and asylum seekers are at the mercy of militias who exploit them for financial gain. Held in detention centres for illegal migrants, they are subjected to inhuman conditions including overcrowding, lack of sanitation and vicious beatings. Framed by sectarian violence, corruption and bureaucracy this report circumnavigates the official channels and cultivates its own way contacting militiamen, smugglers and tribespeople, which enabled it to get a close view to the reality of trafficking in Libya. The report aims to show how, instead of being a place of transit for migrants on their way to Europe, Libya has actually become a trafficking market where people are bought and sold on a daily basis, providing a glimpse of the complex and horrifying context anonymous migrants face.