Photographer Ricardo García Villanova visited detention centres in Misrata, Libya which are home to many African migrants, both those who are trying to travel to Europe, and those who were rounded up after the revolution.
Many African migrants in Libya find themselves limbo. Considered illegal migrants, they suffer detention in terrible conditions. Unauthorized migrants are jailed and then deported after they serve their sentences.Photograph: Ricardo García Villanova
Refugees coming from Africa and Middle East finding themselves systematically exposed to arbitrary and indefinite detention in conditions described as "abysmal" and "unacceptable", according The UN and Human Rights WatchPhotograph: Ricardo García Vilanova
Racism against black migrants has risen since the revolution. Opposition forces said the majority of the mercenaries working for Muammar Gaddafi were black; many of those accused were jailed without legal assistance or formal justification.Photograph: Ricardo García Vilanova
Many complain of hard conditions: beatings; hunger; 200 people using a single toilet. They are often unable to communicate with relatives. Many only want to be deported to their home countries, but may have to pay or work to obtain freedom.Photograph: Ricardo García Villanova
Women and children are also held, separated from men, even husbands. Without female guards, they are vulnerable to abuse. There are reports of invasive strip-searches used as punishment, and of pregnant women beaten on their upper bodies.Photograph: Ricardo García Villanova
According to human rights observers corruption is rife. Many detainees are in the hands of smugglers who demand money for freedom. In other cases they suffer the worst slavery conditions in the XXI century, forced to work to obtain release.Photograph: Ricardo García Vilanova
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