Motion for a resolution | Doc. 13838 | 01 July 2015

The violation of the human rights of migrants and refugees in Libya

Signatories: Mr Àlex SÁEZ, Spain, SOC ; Mr Vahan BABAYAN, Armenia, EC ; Ms Nunzia CATALFO, Italy, NR ; Mr Manlio DI STEFANO, Italy, NR ; Mr Arcadio DÍAZ TEJERA, Spain, SOC ; Mr Jonas GUNNARSSON, Sweden, SOC ; Mr Antonio GUTIÉRREZ, Spain, SOC ; Ms Gabriela HEINRICH, Germany, SOC ; Mr Carles JORDANA MADERO, Andorra, ALDE ; Mr Philippe MAHOUX, Belgium, SOC ; Ms Meritxell MATEU PI, Andorra, ALDE ; Ms Ana MATO, Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Liliane MAURY PASQUIER, Switzerland, SOC ; Ms Ermira MEHMETI DEVAJA, ''The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia'', SOC ; Ms Melita MULIĆ, Croatia, SOC ; Mr Gabino PUCHE, Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Carmen QUINTANILLA, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Andrea RIGONI, Italy, ALDE ; Ms Soraya RODRÍGUEZ, Spain, SOC ; Mr Armen RUSTAMYAN, Armenia, SOC ; Mr Frank SCHWABE, Germany, SOC ; Mr Aleksandar SENIĆ, Serbia, SOC ; Ms Maria Edera SPADONI, Italy, NR ; Ms Tineke STRIK, Netherlands, SOC ; Mr Egidijus VAREIKIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD ; Mr Jordi XUCLÀ, Spain, ALDE ; Mr Levon ZOURABIAN, Armenia, ALDE

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.

The situation of migrants and refugees in Libya is dramatic and dreadful. Having no chance to get diplomatic or any other protection in Libya and waiting to leave the country heading for Europe, they are in the hands of traffickers and mobsters. The trip to Europe is difficult, they are exposed to death, and their lives are continuously put at risk. Recently, more than 1000 migrants and refugees were left to die in the Mediterranean Sea with no chance of being rescued.

A May 2015 report by Amnesty International states that "Libya is full of cruelty" and describes all kinds of abuses against these groups of people: kidnapping and extortion from traffickers of human beings, raping of women in migration routes, abuse, murder and persecutions of Christians, abuse in immigration detention centres, traffickers’ racism, exploitation and abuse of migrants and refugees before they get into the boats to Europe.

The Parliamentary Assembly should therefore investigate this situation which affects the countries of the Council of Europe where those refugees arrive.