Clip From a Detention Camp in Libya, Falsely Claimed to Be From Gaza

Misbar investigated the circulating video and found the claim to be misleading.

A reverse image search of the video reveals that the scene is unrelated to the recent war on Gaza.

The Video Shows a Libyan Detention Camp 

Contrary to social media users’ viral claim, the clip is not related to the war on Gaza. 

The video shows irregular immigrants stripped and humiliated in the Libyan Bir al-Ghanam detention camp which is supervised by the vice president of the Immigration Department.

The camp houses Egyptians and Syrian refugees, in addition to people caught in Tunis and trafficked to Libya by the state and others that were collected from different parts of Libya.

On his Facebook page, The head of the National Institution for Human Rights in Libya (NIHRL), shared the footage with a caption that reads “These scenes document violations committed against irregular migrants from Syria and Egypt, in the (Bir al-Ghanam) shelter center in Libya.”

Hamza called on the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Ministry of Interior to open an investigation into the circumstances of violations committed against refugees in Libya. 

Refugees and Migrant Numbers on the Rise in Libya

IOM Libya’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) program identified a total of 725,304 migrants from 44 nationalities in the 100 Libyan municipalities during round 52 of data collection (March-May 2024). 

The number of migrants identified by DTM Libya in May 2024 is the highest since DTM started collecting data in 2016 but remains lower than the onset of conflict in 2011 when it was estimated to be around 2.5 million. The number of migrants in Libya has continued to increase slightly (+1%) compared to the previous round of data collection in line with a trend that started in December 2023. DTM has also continued observing an increase in the number of migrants, particularly in eastern coastal areas and western Libya recently.

Sharp Increase in Sudanese Refugees Fleeing to Libya

The 10-month conflict in Sudan has forced thousands to seek refuge in Egypt and Chad, and subsequently Libya. Notably, the head of the Libyan Anti-Illegal Immigration Agency under the parliament-designate government, Nouri Al-Saadi, stated that approximately 500,000 Sudanese have fled to Libya due to the ongoing conflict in their country.

Such an increase in refugee numbers underscores the growing humanitarian crisis and the need for sustained international support. In its turn, the International Medical Corps (IMC) has warned of an imminent humanitarian catastrophe with the influx of Sudanese refugees fleeing to Libya, if aid is not provided urgently. The IMC presented the outcomes of the Rapid Response Team mission to the city of Kufra, where the total number of Sudanese refugees is estimated at 45,000 refugees. Based on the analysis of the rapid needs assessment conducted, the International Medical Corps revealed that there are four main routes used by Sudanese refugees: directly from Sudan to Kufra (the most popular route), via Chad to Murzuq, via Chad to Qatroun, and the “less used route” via Egypt to Tobruk.

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