31 civil society organisations have called on the European Union and its member states to immediately suspend cooperation with Libyan authorities on migration control, arguing that continued support enables widespread human rights abuses against refugees, asylum seekers and migrants.
In a joint statement issued on Friday, the organisations claimed that EU assistance, including funding, equipment, training and intelligence-sharing with Libyan security agencies, has facilitated the interception and forced return of thousands of migrants to Libya, where they face arbitrary detention, torture, sexual violence, forced labour and other serious abuses.
The abuses, they said, are documented in recent reports by UN bodies, including most recently the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in their February 2026 report.
The groups further condemned reported plans by the EU to deepen cooperation with authorities in both western and eastern Libya, warning that such engagement risks increasing the bloc's complicity in human rights violations.
They urged the EU to halt support for Libyan migration and border control operations, ensure rescued migrants are disembarked in safe locations outside Libya, and investigate attacks by Libyan forces on humanitarian search-and-rescue vessels operating in the Mediterranean.
“We call on the European Commission and EU States to review their approach and urgently change course to avoid further complicity in human rights violations in Libya,” they said.
Additionally, they urgently urged the suspension of any cooperation with Libya on migration and border control, and in particular any assistance facilitating the containment of people in Libya, including financial and technical support, capacity-building, and intelligence-sharing, in light of their involvement in widespread and systematic violations of the rights of refugees and migrants, as well as their involvement in violent incidents against NGO rescue ships.
They are also pushing for a requirement that any future cooperation on migration and border control with Libya commit all parties to ensure that anyone rescued or intercepted at sea is disembarked in a place of safety, which cannot be Libya, fully aligned with international law and standards; ensuring that shipmasters rescuing people are promptly assisted in the identification of a place of safety for disembarkation, which cannot be Libya; and ensuring that civilian vessels, including boats operated by NGOs, are fully able to carry out their lifesaving activities, without hindrance and criminalisation.
The organisations are also putting pressure on Libyan authorities to carry out thorough and independent investigations into the three shooting incidents against NGO ships to hold perpetrators accountable, provide effective remedies to victims and make the findings of the investigation public.
“Ensure accountability for any human rights violations that the EU and member states may have been responsible for through their cooperation with the Libyan Coast Guard. This should be pursued by the European Commission through an independent, external and public assessment to determine EU responsibility for the shootings and through prompt, thorough and independent investigations by member states’ authorities,” they said.
The same, they want done by the European Parliament which they called to initiate a Commission of Inquiry into the responsibility of the EU and member states into the three NGO rescue boat shootings and ensure that external funding on migration, including to Libya, places human rights at the centre, focuses on measures to protect the rights and safety of refugees and migrants, and involves robust due diligence measures.
“This should include: prior human rights impact assessments, based on robust benchmarks; independent, third party human rights monitoring mechanisms; clear suspensive clauses in any agreement or disbursement of funds, to suspend activities found to be negatively impacting human rights; transparent financing with safeguards to ensure that no EU funding and provisions of assets contribute to human rights violations, including guarantees that they will not be disbursed to authorities and entities involved in human rights violations and abuses,” they said.
The organisations include: Human Rights Watch, Libya Crimes Watch, Refugees in Libya, Abolish Frontex Italia, Adala for All (AFA), Alliance with Refugees in Libya, Amnesty International, Associazione Studi Giuridici Immigrazione (ASGI), Associazione Ricreativa Culturale Italiana (ARCI), Captain Support Network, Caritas Europa, Convenzione dei diritti nel Mediterraneo, EuroMed Rights, European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) and European Network Against Racism (ENAR).
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