David Yambio is a community advocate, human rights defender, and lead investigator on state-to-state human trafficking and crimes against migrants in North Africa and Europe. He is the co-founder and spokesperson of Refugees in Libya, a refugee-led organisation based in Libya and Italy that documents abuses, challenges impunity, and advocates for justice and protection for people on the move.

David experienced displacement early in life and grew up amid conflict and instability. He was forcibly recruited as a child and later lived through multiple armed conflicts across the African continent. After fleeing his country, he undertook a perilous journey across several African states, during which he was detained, tortured, exploited, and enslaved in Libya. These experiences shaped both his political consciousness and his commitment to collective struggle.

In Libya, David emerged as a key organiser and public voice against systematic abuse. In 2021, he co-founded Refugees in Libya following a prolonged refugee-led protest demanding protection, recognition, and accountability. Since then, the organisation has become a central platform for exposing crimes committed against refugees and migrants in Libya, Tunisia, Niger, and along the Central Mediterranean route, including those enabled by European border externalisation policies.

David has led and coordinated major international advocacy campaigns, including actions in Geneva, Brussels, Rome, and other European capitals, targeting institutions such as UNHCR, the European Union, and individual member states. He is a co-author of The Book of Shame, a collective documentation of crimes against refugees in North Africa, and recently led the Stage of Survivors and Refugee Tribunal in Rome, a public people’s tribunal confronting Italian ministers and EU officials over crimes against humanity.

His work focuses on accountability, survivor-led documentation, strategic litigation support, political organising, and challenging humanitarian and legal systems that reproduce violence rather than end it. He has engaged with international and regional mechanisms including the ICC, European courts, and African institutions, while remaining grounded in community-based organising.

David is a Forum Member of the European Philanthropic Initiative for Migration (EPIM), a member of the Scientific Committee of the Global Initiative Against Impunity, and a Global Exchange Fellow on International Crimes and Accountability with the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR). He also serves as Special Envoy for Pan-African Refugee Protection and Accountability at the African Youth Union Development Organisation (AYUDO).

He continues to work across Africa and Europe with survivors, students, legal practitioners, and social movements to confront impunity, defend freedom of movement, and advance a vision of justice rooted in dignity, political agency, and collective liberation.