Nigerian migrant worker burned alive in Libya

Three men stormed a factory in Tripoli, doused a Nigerian worker in petrol, and set him on fire, according to a statement by the Libyan interior ministry, in a new reported attack on migrants in the north African country.

The United Nations has described the man’s death as “another senseless crime against migrants in Libya.”

A statement by Tripoli’s interior ministry on Wednesday said the suspects — all Libyan nationals — had been detained for the attack on the man, who has not been named.

The ministry cited witness testimony that described the men storming the factory and setting the Nigerian man on fire. “We are horrified by the killing of a Nigerian migrant worker in Tripoli, #Libya by three men yesterday. The young man was burned alive, in yet again another senseless crime against migrants in the country,” tweeted Federico Soda, head of the UN’s International Organization of Migration mission in Libya. “Those responsible must be held to account.”

War-torn Libya has repeatedly been accused of being a hostile environment for migrants and refugees, many of whom pass through the country in an attempt to reach safer shores in Europe.

Many of these migrants are intercepted by European authorities and returned to Libya.

Last month, Amnesty International released a report detailing “horrific cycles of abuses” of migrants in Libya, including unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, torture, and rape.

The rights group said that the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the abuse.