Dear Supporters,
We are Refugees in Libya, a self-organized movement of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants fighting for dignity, justice, and freedom of movement. In October 2021, 5000 people started the struggle in front of the UNHCR offices of Tripoli and we managed to stand together for over 100 days, demanding our rights and exposing the brutal realities we face daily despite risks kidnapping, torture, rape, and murder. In January 2024, we established our headquarters in Bologna and in July, we officially registered as an association (Associazione di Promozione Sociale - APS) in Italy. 

For the past years, we have worked without funding, sustained only by our own sacrifices and the solidarity of a few supporters. Awareness of the Libyan reality is growing, as much as the strength of our struggle, and so is the resistance against us. Our enemies - governments, militias, human traffickers, and border control systems - are powerful, ruthless, well-funded, and united in their aim to crush the Black People on the Move and hinder freedom of movement across Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Niger.
We work closely with investigative journalists, researchers, filmmakers, documentary journalists, lawyers, academics, universities, national and international institutions and actors to expose the truth about the suffering of refugees.

While these professionals are paid for their work, we - the primary victims and survivors - continue to provide critical information, testimonies, and access without any compensation. Despite the lack of funding, we are the ones risking our lives to document abuses, gather evidence, and share stories that fuel global reports, films, and academic research. Our knowledge, experiences, and networks have been essential for groundbreaking investigations, yet we remain unsupported, even as others benefit from our struggles.
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This is why we are asking for a donation, not as charity, but as fair and necessary support for the work we do every day and should continue to do. 
 
                                                   What Your Contribution Will Support:
 
✅ Strengthen our emergency response → We maintain a 24/7 hotline for urgent distress calls from refugees trapped in detention, under threat of deportation, or facing extreme violence.
→ The hotline serves as a lifeline for refugees in Libya, providing critical information on rights, health, protection, and emergency support.
→ Our team of 20 volunteers operates this service from both Europe and Libya, ensuring round-the-clock monitoring and response.
→ We collaborate with Belaady Association for Human Rights and community leaders across Libya, alongside maintaining direct contacts with major humanitarian organizations such as NRC, CESVI Foundation, DRC, Red Crescent, Red Cross, UNICEF, UNHCR, and IOM.
→ The hotline functions through WhatsApp, receiving requests for help 7 days a week, with operators working in shifts to monitor and respond. Cases handled through the hotline are carefully documented and backed up, allowing us to track trends, collect evidence, and advocate for legal actions.
→ Training sessions are conducted regularly for hotline operators, equipping them with the necessary skills, knowledge, and security awareness to handle cases effectively.
→Weekly meetings help us analyze cases, improve responses, and adapt to emerging challenges.
Who Calls Our Hotline? 
People on the move of all kinds who are fleeing war and violence, reach out for urgent protection.
→ Women facing gender-based violence (GBV) contact us for support and intervention.
→ Parents seek Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) for their children suffering from trauma due to war and forced displacement.
→ Migrants trapped in prison—or their family members—call for help when facing arbitrary detention, torture, or risk of deportation.
→ Families of those who go missing in between the deserts or the Mediterranean Sea reach out for any last bit of hope that can lead to the traces of their loved ones.
→ Families of those held in captivity by human traffickers reach out for information and solutions to handle the life-threatening situation of their loved ones. 
Why We Need Core Funding for the Hotline
More phones and secure devices → Many operators currently work with basic Android smartphones, which limit our ability to manage large volumes of distress calls, document cases efficiently, and maintain security standards.
Better data storage and archiving → We need high-security servers to store and protect sensitive information from hackers, state surveillance, and hostile actors.
More trained operators → Expanding the team with proper compensation will ensure the hotline can keep running consistently and provide professional, timely responses to every caller.
Specialized working groups → Over time, we aim to develop dedicated teams for handling specific cases like GBV, mental health support, detention cases, and legal referrals.
The hotline is a life-saving tool for many refugees in Libya. With the right resources, we can save even more lives, document more cases, and push for stronger accountability against those responsible for the suffering of migrants and refugees.

✅Advocacy and Awareness → Refugees in Libya - APS has initiated several impactful campaigns to raise awareness and advocate for the rights of refugees and migrants:
→ UNFAIR Campaign: Launched in November 2022, this campaign aimed to amplify the voices of those ignored and mistreated by the UNHCR in Libya. It highlighted the agency’s failures and called for accountability and reform. 
→ Human Rights Defenders Campaign: Initiated in early 2024, this campaign sought to evacuate human rights defenders from Libya to Europe. The goal was to find at least ten municipalities across Europe willing to join a coalition to provide safe passage and protection for these individuals. 
→ From Tripoli to… Series: This series of events and protests aimed to amplify the voices of refugees in Libya on an international stage:
→ Geneva: In December 2022, a sit-in and protest were held at the UNHCR headquarters to demand better protection and rights for refugees. 
→ Brussels: In June and July 2023, a counter-summit conference and protest took place in Brussels, targeting the EU’s border regime and advocating for refugee rights. 
→ From Tripoli to Bologna: On January 26-27, 2024, we held events in Bologna to raise awareness about the plight of human rights defenders in Libya and to garner support for their evacuation to safer regions. 
→ From Tripoli to Rome: On May 31 and June 1, 2024, we organized a campaign in Rome focusing on the evacuation of human rights defenders from Libya, highlighting the urgent need for international intervention and support.  
→ Berlin: By October 2024, the campaign reached Berlin, continuing efforts to evacuate human rights defenders and raise awareness about the plight of refugees in Libya. 
→ Sicily: In November 2024, events were organized in Sicily to further the cause of evacuating human rights defenders and highlighting the challenges faced by refugees. 
These campaigns reflect our commitment to advocating for refugee rights, holding institutions accountable, and seeking international solidarity to address the challenges faced by refugees and migrants in Libya and beyond.

✅Evacuate Human Rights Defenders From Libya! Mobile Exhibition:
The mobile Exhibition wants to highlight and give extensive recognition to the constant organization, protests and collective resistance of the Human Rights Defenders in Libya. It is part of the Human Rights Defender Evacuation Campaign which tries to evacuate Human Rights Defenders from Libya to diverse European cities. Together they move to different European cities to gather evacuation possibilities and make the stories of the Human Rights Defenders visible.
 
“They wanted to silence us. But [...] we do not want to be silent. We keep fighting and defending our rights and the rights of others until we will be in a safe place.”
Three Human Rights Defenders from Refugees in Libya tell about their activism in one of the world’s most dangerous countries: they describe the organisation of the 100-day protests in Tripoli, the violent crackdown by EU-supported militias, the 18 months of imprisonment and forced labour, the violent repression and their resistance to it. They talk about hunger strikes, poisoning, loyalty, hidden documentation, mutual support and their current situation in Libya.
They are united by their collective struggle for protection and freedom, but also by the severe reprisals they face for their human rights activism, which also seems to exclude them from current evacuation processes. This exposition is part of the Human Rights Defenders Evacuation campaign. It aims to contribute to the visibility of their legitimate human rights work and invites you to get involved.
 
✅ Expand our strategic litigation efforts – Support legal cases that challenge human rights abuses, human trafficking networks, and illegal pushbacks.
In our pursuit of justice, we have actively collaborated with the International Criminal Court and other international judicial bodies to hold perpetrators accountable. A notable instance is our involvement in the case against Osama Elmasry Njeem, also known as Osama Almasri, a Libyan official who has been committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Mitiga Prison since 2015. 

Our organization has been instrumental in gathering testimonies and evidence from survivors of Mitiga Prison, where detainees have suffered torture, rape, and other severe abuses under Almasri’s command. We have provided this crucial information to the ICC to support their investigation and prosecution efforts.

Furthermore, we are committed to exposing and challenging the complicity of European politicians and governments in these atrocities. 

Osama Almasri is just one of many criminals on our list of perpetrators responsible for war crimes, rape, torture, human trafficking and crimes against humanity in Libya.
There are many more like him→militia leaders, prison officials, traffickers, and state actors→who continue to commit murder, rape, forced disappearances, and enslavement of refugees and migrants. We have documented countless cases and gathered evidence and testimonies that prove these crimes.

Our work does not stop at one case→we are pursuing justice for ourselves and all victims and pushing for the prosecution of every criminal involved, whether in Libya or in Europe.
These criminals do not act alone →they are funded, armed, and protected by state forces, including European governments, who sign deals that fuel this system of violence.
We will continue to expose and challenge both the direct perpetrators in Libya and the European politicians who enable them.

→ Challenging the Complicity of Frontex's Aerial Surveillance Activities in Crimes Against Humanity
Refugees in Libya in May 2024 filed a legal notice pursuant to Art. 265 TFEU requesting Frontex’s Executive Director, Mr. Hans Leijtens, to terminate the Agency’s aerial surveillance activities in the ‘pre-frontier area’ in the Central Mediterranean.
 
To prevent asylum seekers fleeing crimes against humanity in Libya from reaching the EU, Frontex systematically and unlawfully transmits the geo-localisation of refugee boats at high seas to the Libyan Coast Guard/Libyan Militia. Every day, Frontex allows for the systematic interception and 'pulling back' of refugees to Libya, from where they have managed to escape by the skin of their teeth, and where they are subjected once more to crimes against humanity. 
 
Between 2021 and 2023, Frontex has shared 2,200 emails communicating the exact geolocalisation data of refugee boats with Libyan actors to enable their unlawful interception and forcible return back to Libya. There, the ‘pulled back’ refugees are arbitrarily detained and subjected to crimes against humanity of, inter alia, murder, enforced disappearance, torture, enslavement, sexual violence, rape, and other inhumane acts.
 
It is Frontex’s sharing of geolocalisation data which enables the commission of these crimes – making the Agency complicit in the ongoing and systematic attack directed against refugees and asylum seekers in the Central Mediterranean.
 
Frontex’s complicity in these ‘pullbacks’ and ensuing crimes against humanity committed against refugees has been well-documented by leading human rights organisations, UN organs, and investigative journalists.
 
✅ Equip our members with the right tools → Our work involves handling highly sensitive and life-threatening information. We document cases of torture, human trafficking, forced disappearances, and mass killings, often involving powerful Libyan militias, smugglers, prison officials, and corrupt state actors.
To expose these crimes, we must gather evidence, testimonies, and confidential data from victims, survivors, and whistleblowers. This work puts our members at serious risk, making secure communication and digital protection a top priority.

The funding will allow us to purchase computers, encrypted cell phones, cameras, and servers to safely collect, store, and share crucial information without the risk of interception, hacking, or leaks.

We also need security software, VPNs, and encrypted messaging tools to protect our team from surveillance, cyberattacks, and tracking by hostile actors, including Libyan authorities and European intelligence agencies working to suppress evidence.

Many of our frontline members live in hiding, detention centers, or transit zones across Libya, Tunisia, Niger, and Morocco. They rely on secure and stable communication to continue their work.
Our network spans across Europe, North Africa, and beyond, and our members risk their lives daily to document and report human rights violations. Without proper tools, our evidence can be erased, our testimonies silenced, and our activists targeted or killed.

This funding is not a luxury→it is a necessity to ensure the safety of those fighting on the frontlines and to continue exposing the truth to international courts, journalists, and the public.
If we are to hold war criminals, traffickers, and complicit European politicians accountable, we must be equipped with the technology to collect, archive, and protect the evidence that proves their crimes. Our enemies have wealth, weapons, and government backing→we must ensure that we have the tools and security necessary to stand against them.

✅ Support our radical solidarity structures – Strengthen our networks in Libya, Tunisia, Niger, Morocco, and beyond, ensuring Black refugees have safe havens and community-led support.
In Tunisia: 
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We inspired and supported the protests of Refugees in Tunisia in Zarzis and then Lac 1 in Tunis since early 2022 and to this day we work with them hand in hand in our shared solidarity. 
A little before 2023, the situation in Tunisia was still relatively safe and favorable. Refugees could work and move freely. But since the European Union increased pressure on the Tunisian government with exorbitant payments, the situation for refugees and migrants has dangerously reversed. The President had incited the population to racism and persecution of refugees. A wave of arrests last May 2024 put not only civilians who were helping the young people in prison but also members of recognized humanitarian organizations that had been operating in favor of refugees in humanitarian, social, legal, and health capacities.

Now, they lack any form of support, even basic rights such as applying for asylum. Thousands have been forced to live in makeshift camps along the Mediterranean coast, outside the city of Sfax, without dignified infrastructure and with a permanent shortage of water, toilets, or washing facilities and access to healthcare. Additionally, locals started dumping the contents of their septic tanks. All of which have caused major epidemic outbreaks of typhoid and cholera. These camps, located in dusty olive groves in Jebeniana, El-Amra, and Sfax, are plagued by daily violent attacks from the national guard and local gangs armed with machetes. Migrants are beaten, their belongings burned, and many are forced into the desert where they are abandoned without shoes, money, or food. Some die under the scorching sun, while others are arrested again as soon as they reach inhabited areas. 
 
Since May 2024, we have followed medical volunteers, migrants themselves, who set up a self-organized clinic in the camps, treating numerous diseases in the absence of official aid from organizations like MSF or Tunisia’s Ministry of Health. 
 
With the help of dozens of nurses and medical practitioners, several clinics have been built using plastic sheets and basic materials. Together, they provide critical medical care, despite the overwhelming needs and shortage of supplies.
 
“We cannot solve the entire situation immediately, but at least we can help cure those suffering at the moment,” explains one of the volunteer doctors. “Every day is a race against time. Mothers give birth in the dirt, young men bleed from machete wounds, and we don’t even have clean water to offer them.”
 
Women are among the most vulnerable, with an estimated 1600 pregnant women (as of today 9 February 2025) in the camps, many of whom were raped. They suffer from serious sexually transmitted infections and endure complex pregnancies without any access to antenatal care. There is no access to abortion clinics for those seeking to end pregnancies resulting from rape, and many women are forced to carry to term. When labor complications arise, they are unable to transfer to a hospital, and babies born in distress often suffer from respiratory problems or are at risk of childhood diseases like measles, polio, rubella, and tetanus. Living in these conditions means every injury risks infection and even septicemia.
 
The volunteer doctor and nurses work tirelessly, often treating severe injuries caused by machete attacks and gunshot wounds inflicted by local gangs. With no access to clinics or pharmacies, they rely on the kindness of locals to smuggle essential medicines like antibiotics, iodine, and sterile dressings into the camps.
 
We have been trying to do our part and take responsibility. We organised a fundraiser that has raised over 15,000€ since August last 2024 to help with medical needs. We send the money to the medical volunteers, and they smuggle medicines into the camps and also sustain the lives of the medical volunteers. It’s a drop in the ocean, but it’s helping men, women, and children survive in the absence of humanity.
 
The daily challenges are immense, with police raids on the encampments, attacks by local gangs, and the constant risk of arrest. The medical team works from morning until late into the night, treating injuries caused by beatings, shotgun pellets, and now even live gunshot wounds. Despite the danger, they continue their vital work, determined to bring some relief to those enduring unimaginable suffering.
 
Everyday we receive terrible graphic images of machete wounds, pregnant women and dead people which can be browsed on this google drive. 
In September and October 2024, we mobilised a team of 70 community leaders who carried out a population assessment and our findings resulted in the presence of over 27.000 women, children and men from over 19 African countries and all of whom are sick from one symptom or another. 
From August to this day, over 6.000 of them have received treatments thanks to this radical solidarity. This is nothing much to celebrate because with each passing day they find themselves in the same poisonous and contaminated environment which makes them sick again. 
 
                                                                                     Niger: 
We have supported a peaceful protest of the refugees who are in the so-called humanitarian shelter in Agadez since September 2024 and ongoing. This humanitarian shelter has proven to be a containment camp for those who have been contained there since 2017 to date. The desert region has enormously hazardous  conditions yet the camp inhabitants have too little access to basic needs, education and health care. For this they have been asking peacefully what is rightfully theirs. 
 
✅ Provide fair compensation for our frontline activists – Many of our members are primary victims and survivors who continue to work relentlessly despite living in precarious conditions. They deserve dignity, not exploitation.

Why This is Not Charity, but Justice
We do not ask for handouts. We are not begging for charity. We are demanding what is rightfully ours: the means to fight for justice, dignity, and freedom of movement. Every euro contributed is not a gift—it is a necessary investment in a world where Black refugees are not treated as disposable bodies, but as human beings with dreams, voices, and rights.
Our work has proven its impact. But without core funding, our movement is constantly at risk. The world’s oppressors are organized, wealthy, and ruthless. We must be stronger, louder, and more united.