First presented at the European Parliament on Wednesday, January 29, the report titled “State Trafficking: Expulsion and Sale of Migrants from Tunisia to Libya” sheds light on a new aspect of the already grim treatment of migrants by both countries, particularly those from Sub-Saharan Africa.
Published by the collective “Researchers X” (RRX in English) – an anonymous group of researchers supported by several European MPs – the report directly implicates the Tunisian state for the first time in possible cases of migrant sale and trafficking.
The document includes 30 testimonies from people expelled from Tunisia to Libya between June 2023 and November 2024. All testimonies reveal cases of “human sales at the Tunisian-Libyan borders,” as well as a connection between “the infrastructure behind the expulsions [from Tunisia] and the kidnapping industry in Libyan prisons.”
The process consistently starts with the arrest of migrants, their transport to the Tunisian-Libyan border, followed by their placement in detention camps managed by Tunisian authorities, and then their forced transfer and sale to Libyan armed forces and militias.
Ransom of 500 Euros
Their selling price reportedly ranges between 40 and 300 dinars [12 to 90 euros], depending on what can be extracted as ransom once they fall into the hands of Libyan militias. This ransom, demanded from their families, typically amounts to 500 euros. The testimonies in the report – which has yet to receive a response from Tunisian authorities – also describe particularly shocking acts of torture and abuse inflicted on migrants throughout their detention, both in Tunisia and Libya.
The presentation of this document at the European Parliament last week aimed to reopen two debates regarding the responsibility of the European Union and its member states: the first concerning the endangerment of the lives or enslavement of people on the move, and the second about the status of Tunisia as a “safe country” and its role as a partner in managing the EU’s external borders.