Libyans facing 'daily threats of murder and rape' forcing migrants to flee country for UK

Libyans are facing daily threats of murder and rape from rival militias forcing migrants to flee the country to get to the UK. On Wednesday a boat carrying 100 migrants travelling from the Libyan coast to the Italian island of Lampedusa capsized,killing at least 27, including a baby.

What they left behind is a country riven in two by rival powers, both claiming to be the legitimate rulers of the North African state. The UN-backed Government of National Unity (GNU) controls the west of the country from Tripoli, and the Government of National Stability (GNS), is based in the eastern city of Tobruk.

The country was once ruled by the flamboyant and ruthless dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who famously met with British PM Tony Blair in a Bedouin tent outside Tripoli in 2001. Col Gaddafi was shot dead when he was overthrown during the Arab Spring pro-democracy revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa in 2011.

Today the lawless Libyan political landscape makes it one of the main countries for migrants, both from Libya and the rest of Africa, to disembark from using small boats to make the perilous journey to Italy and the EU across the Mediterranean. The situation has become so bad, Vladimir Putin has been reportedly considering flying migrants to Europe to feed the current irregular immigration crisis.

This so-called Central Mediterranean route is one of the fastest growing illegal entry points into Europe, with EU border agency Frontex reporting 36,700 migrants crossing in 2025, up 9% from the same period in 2024. Many of those using Libya as a launchpad eventually head to northern France to cross over to the UK.

According to the UN, 100,000 refugees and migrants entered Libya in 2024, fleeing escalating violence, persecution, and conflict from countries such as Sudan and other nations in sub-Saharan Africa.

Hassan, whose name the Daily Express has changed to protect his identity, lives in the country where daily essentials such as medicines and food have become scarce. "Many older Libyans, and even some youth, now view the Gaddafi era as more stable, especially in terms of security and law enforcement and the value of the Libyan dinar," he said.

"Fear for personal safety is a persistent part of our daily life. In both west and east Libya, Libyans have shared stories of arbitrary arrests, forced disappearances, and intimidation by armed groups affiliated with local authorities or security forces.

"In Tripoli, I have witnessed militias regularly clash in residential areas. Shelling, checkpoints, and home raids are often reported during these escalations and videos are published on social media.

"The crimes we hear of on a daily basis are unbelievable, murder, rape. And all sorts of abuse. It is the reality of being under the rule of militias."

Hamza, whose name has also been changed to protect his identity, said the collapse of the Libyan currency, the dinar, meant food prices have rocketed and many people, even those working for the Government, are waiting months to be paid.

He added: "It's a complete crisis. Public hospitals suffer from medicine shortages, outdated equipment, and unpaid staff.

"Many stories have emerged of patients dying due to lack of treatment or being refused care unless they pay bribes and that I've witnessed myself when I was trying to get the medical help needed for my sick mother."

In recent history, British relations with Libya have been marred by the 1989 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 which exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing all 259 people on board and 11 on the ground.

In 2001 Scottish judges sentenced Libyan Abdelbasset al-Megrahi to life for murder in relation to the atrocity, the deadliest terror attack ever committed on UK soil. Al-Megrahi was controversially released on compassionate grounds in 2009. He died at home in Tripoli in 2012. A second Libyan man was cleared and a third, Abu Agila Mohammad Masud is due to appear in court in the US in April next year.

Ali Mohamed Mohamed Sassi led a Libyan group to the House of Commons in July for meetings to discuss the crisis in Libya with a view to establishing a stable government by 2030. Mr Sassi is seen as a potential candidate to be the next Prime Minister of a united Libya.

He told the Daily Express: "There is no doubt that the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie is a black mark in the history of international relations between Libya and the countries concerned with this case.

"Libya reached an agreement to resolve the matter through international intervention. Should this case be brought up again, there is no doubt that we stand by the enforcement of internationally recognised law."