UNHCR is UNFAIR

Manifesto of the UNFAIR-Campaign

by REFUGEES IN LIBYA, REFUGEES IN TUNISIA and REFUGEES IN NIGER with solidarity from the ALLIANCE WITH REFUGEES IN LIBYA

September 2025

Refugees and migrants who find themselves in Libya, Tunisia and Niger are experiencing all kind of abuses and deprivations including crimes against humanity. In this dire situation, many of us put our  hope and trust into an agency that promises safety, human rights, and assistance to those seeking protection: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).  Since 2021 we, refugees, have been protesting against UNHCR in Tripoli, Tunis and Agadez, calling the agency to recognize our humanity, to listen to our voices and to provide us real protection. But instead of understanding we found denial and paternalistic contempt. Since 2021, UNHCR’s negligence and disrespect towards refugees has all but increased. We denounce lack of basic support, a system of appointments and hotlines that is utterly broken and humiliating treatment and threats from UNHCR staff towards refugees. We also denounce the UNHCR so-called “route-based approach” as nothing more than an attempt to whitewash border externalisation policies with the only aim to keep refugees away from Europe on behalf of the EU. The list of cases of neglect and disrespect is long, and we are determined to expose them all for the world to see that the UNHCR is UNFAIR.

We are not silent victims of our situation. We raise our voices against injustices. We demand the rights that are ours. We are human rights defenders. We are Refugees in Libya, Refugees in Tunisia(?) and Refugees in Niger, three self-organized refugee movements demanding our basic human rights and struggling against injustices experienced in the treatment by UNHCR. And we do not stand alone.We are launching this campaign with the Alliance with Refugees in Libya, European supporters of the movement. We are part of a whole network of anti-racist movements and activists in Europe and North Africa. In the upcoming months, we will bring our accusations and demands against UNHCR to everyone who needs to hear them. We will publish hundreds of testimonies on social media and through the UNHCR Book of Shame. We will make sure our voices are heard and our demands are met- online and in the streets. And we will not stop until our demands are met.

Here are our DEMANDS to UNHCR: RECOGNITION - DENUNCIATION OF ABUSES - IMPROVED SERVICES - RESPECT AND TRANSPARENCY

1.  We demand that Refugees in Libya and other self-organized refugee collectives are recognized as interlocutors to the UNHCR. We want both symbolic recognition and meaningful participation of refugee-led movements in UNHCR actions. This means in particular:

• Regular meetings of UNHCR officials with refugee representatives as equals, refraining from paternalistic attitudes.

• Consultation of refugee representatives for key changes and new programmes

• Involvement of refugee representatives in UNHCR communication strategy and advocacy: Don’t advocate for our rights without our voices
  

2.  We demand that UNHCR end its complicit silence and to publicly denounce abuses against refugees. This means in particular:

• Condemning collective expulsions to the deserts of Libya and Tunisia when these are documented and reported

• Calling out the Tunisian government to allow for UNHCR refugee registration and to stop harassing refugees

• Denouncing Libyan, Nigerien and Tunisian abuses against refugees and asylum seekers and call for their immediate evacuation to safe third countries

• Condemning the threats, arbitrary arrests, refugee status withdrawal and physical attacks against refugee Human Rights defenders, particularly in Niger

• Oppose and denounce any Geneva Convention violation from the host states, and do not cooperate with said violations. 

• Advocating publicly for more resettlement spots with safe third countries

• Denounce the European Union’s support to criminal forces in Tunisia and Libya

• Supporting and encouraging the creation of safe and legal ways to seek protection  

3.  We demand that services for refugees on the ground in Libya, Tunisia and Niger are improved. We demand a reliable and sufficient provision of material aid (food, medicines, shelter, etc.), but also services like education and healthcare. This means in particular:

• Opening new UNHCR offices outside of Tunis, Tripoli and Niamey, to ensure that refugees can register, renew their documents and submit complaints without having to travel to the capital. Establishing an office in Agadez is particularly urgent. 

• Provide rescue services in the desert border areas to save refugees deported from Tunisia and Algeria to Niger

• Strongly advocate in front of the Tunisian, Nigerien and Libyan governments to make them recognize and respect UNHCR-delivered documents to ensure freedom of movement within each state.

• Providing enough material or financial assistance to meet at least the minimum standards for a dignified life

• Ensuring that food assistance is given either in cash or with food packages to avoid abuse by local merchants

•  Open educational opportunities for refugees in Libya, Tunisia and Niger
  

4.  Finally, we demand a more respectful and transparent treatment of refugees in UNHCR offices. This means in particular:

• Stop the violence against refugees in UNHCR and their partners’ offices.

• Refrain from withholding ration cards as a tool to punish refugee protests

• Refrain from threatening refugees by UNHCR staff in an attempt to silence criticism or to use degrading and paternalising language against them. 

• Hiring more international and properly qualified staff rather than local staff, ensuring that local staff are not involved in the evaluation of refugee filesAddressing corruption and negligence among UNHCR staff, including refugee files being “lost” from the database. 

• Abolish appointment-only access at UNHCR offices, which does not respond adequately to situations of distress

• Providing transparent timelines to refugees and asylum seekers with realistic expectations about waiting times for documents and evacuations.

• Improving responsiveness, stopping administrative silence and responding to emergency phone lines.

• Establish an independent complaints office accessible to refugees that has the power to change things

We call UNHCR to listen to refugees, to fulfill its mandate and to implement our demands. We also call all UNHCR donors to take note of the UNHCR’s negligence and disrespectful practices and to urge them to change course.. Finally, we call to allied African and European human rights activists and NGOs to join and amplify our campaign. 

Twitter @RefugeesinLibya @RefugeesTunisia @refugeesniger

Contact: info@refugeesinlibya.org