Libyan authorities have freed more than 220 migrants from a secret underground prison in southeastern Libya. The discovery adds to ongoing concerns that trafficking, detention-for-ransom, and forced labor remain widespread in Libya, particularly along routes shaped by interception and return policies.

Some held for up to 2 years underground

Authorities uncovered the underground prison in Libya’s remote Kufra region, where traffickers held migrants in severe conditions. Security sources said the facility sat nearly three meters below ground and held people for months or years. Those freed reportedly came from sub-Saharan Africa, including Somalia and Eritrea. Women and children were among them.

InfoMigrants reports,

“Some of the freed migrants were held captive for up to two years in the underground cells,” one of the sources said, adding that the person believed to be operating the prison had not yet been apprehended.

The discovery came days after authorities found more than 20 migrant bodies in a mass grave in eastern Libya. Seawatch International is certain where the blame belongs. “Their deaths are a direct consequence of EU migration politics. Libya is not a safe place for people on the move!”

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