As deadly airstrikes prompt plans to release detainees, fears rise for those trapped in the country amid claims of serious abuses
Sally Hayden
Wed 10 Jul 2019
A migrant picks up clothes from among rubble at a detention centre that was hit by an airstrike in the Tajoura suburb of Tripoli. Photograph: Ismail Zetouni/Reuters
Kosofo was hiding in the bathroom when a deadly airstrike ripped through the ceiling of the hall he was locked inside, in Tripoli’s Tajoura migrant detention centre last week.
“I saw the hell with my eyes. I saw things that I had seen during the Darfur war,” says the Sudanese man in his 20s, who has asked to go by a nickname for his own safety.
The UN says at least 53 refugees, including six children, were killed on 3 July, after airstrikes hit the detention centre in which hundreds were being held. Detainees, including Kosofo, say the death toll was much higher, based on the number of people who were inside the hall at the time.
Kosofo’s account was confirmed by other detainees in Tajoura, in eastern Tripoli. The Guardian saw Kosofo’s medical records, which showed he was brought to hospital on 3 July.
Kosofo has tried to cross the Mediterranean Sea four times since 2017. On each occasion he was caught by the Libyan coastguard, who are supported by the EU to intercept boats and return people to Libya.
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Categories: Africa, Libya, North Africa