and as in previous years, there had been isolated reports that women from sub-Saharan Africa were trafficked to Libya for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation. Although precise figures were unavailable, foreign observers estimated in 2008 that about one to two percent of Libya's 1.5 to 2 million foreigners may be victims of trafficking. , the
Government of Libya did not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, but was making significant efforts to do so. The
U.S. Department of State placed Libya on Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to address trafficking in persons, particularly in the area of investigating and prosecuting
human trafficking offenses. During 2007, Libya provided in-kind assistance to training programs designed to educate law enforcement and civil society groups about trafficking. The government appointed a national anti-trafficking coordinator responsible for protecting trafficking victims and punishing trafficking offenders. As in previous years, however, Libya did not publicly release any data on investigations or punishment of any trafficking offenses. In 2011, migrants trying to reach Europe changed from Sinai to Libya: Egyptian security forces pushed traffickers out of Sinai and after the end of the
First Libyan Civil War in 2011, which overthrew
Muammar Gaddafi, Libya became their new destination. The same year, journalists
Meron Estefanos and Mirjam Van Reisen conducted interviews with Eritrean refugees who were smuggled to Libya through Sudan. The interviews revealed that many traffickers abducted and tortured some refugees. Furthermore, they revealed that Libyan
ISIS cells participated in smuggling and abduction of refugees. In 2017,
Fatou Bensouda, chief prosecutor at the
International Criminal Court, called Libya "a marketplace" for human trafficking, but merely considered, whether to investigate migrant-related crimes in Libya. In 2022, scholars showed that contemporary trafficking from sub-Saharan Africa to Libya could lead to different forms of captivity, such as debt bondage,
prison labor, and hostage taking for ransom. While such forms of exploitation have a long history in the region, they were linked with repressive migration policies and state and non-state systems of political control.
2022 - present Since 2022, reports say Libya has a steady, countrywide risk of human trafficking, made worse by both mass migration from countries like Sudan, and a divided Libyan government. The US Trafficking in Persons reports for 2024 and 2025 still have Libya labeled as a “Special Case”, because traffickers are rarely punished, migrants are treated as criminals, and there are no effective protections or services for victims. Reports record deadly incidents as authorities and IOM reported in March 2024 of mass graves of at least 65 people near Al-Shuwayrif and in February 2025, nearly 50 in
Kufra, as well as reports repeated shipwrecks on the eastern coast. In January 2025, human rights and aid groups condemned the expulsion of at least 613 Nigerian migrants from Libya in convoys to
Dirkou, saying that such acts are a wider abuse against migrants and people who survived trafficking. ==Prosecution==