Europe 'Shocked, Shocked' to Find Abuse in Libyan Detention Centers
After years of funding and empowering the very same Libyan 'coast guard' and associated militias, European organizations and governments are apparently aghast that migrants faced torture, rape, and forced detention upon being returned to Libya. This isn't a new revelation; human rights groups have documented these horrors for years, even before the EU started funneling hundreds of millions of
euros into what amounts to a privatized, offshore detention scheme (Human Rights Watch, 'Europe's Gatekeepers,' 2019; Amnesty International, 'Libya's Dark Web of Collusion,' 2017). The EU chose to weaponize Libya's state collapse, trading migrant 'control' for complicity in systemic abuse, all to keep desperate people from reaching European shores. So, the NGOs are 'cutting ties' now. One might
wonder if their ethical compass suddenly recalibrated or if public relations simply demanded a fresh coat of outrage. Is it truly 'rescue' when you return people to a torture chamber funded by your own nation's tax dollars? Or is it just a tragic, multi-billion-dollar game of international hot potato, with human lives as the potatoes?