A prominent Gambia migration activist, Ebrima Drammeh, has issued a scathing condemnation of what he describes as a “drastic outbreak of racist violence” targeting Black people in Libya, calling it a genocide fueled by hate speech from Libyan authorities and tacitly supported by the European Union.
In a press release issued today, Drammeh detailed a wave of brutal attacks, mass arrests, and collective expulsions that have swept across Western Libya between March 12 and 16, targeting African migrants, refugees, and Black Libyans alike. “As refugees, migrants, and Black people in Libya, we may not have the weapons to defend ourselves from your racist violence. But we have our voices and are not afraid to use them,” Drammeh declared, framing the crisis as a desperate plea for global attention and action.
The violence, according to Drammeh, follows inflammatory rhetoric from Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNU), with Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh and Interior Minister Emad Al-Trabelsi accused of inciting genocide through dehumanizing hate speech. Reports from the ground paint a grim picture: in Sabrata, militias and civilians raided Black residents’ homes, arresting hundreds and killing at least one Sudanese refugee. In Janzour, Al-Serraj, and Tajoura, security forces, including the EU-trained Directorate to Combat Illegal Migration (DCIM), conducted similar operations, detaining hundreds and transferring them to notorious detention centers.
In one particularly chilling incident in Ben-Gashir, Battalion 444 evicted migrants from their homes, burned their belongings and threatened landlords against renting to Black tenants. Meanwhile, in Tripoli’s Ghut-Shaal district, Libyan civilians launched a pogrom against African shops with the apparent blessing of local authorities. Drammeh also highlighted cases of sexual violence against women and murders, including the death of a pregnant Nigerien woman struck by a car in Tarik Al-Madar on March 14.
“This racist violence colludes with EU goals of ‘preventing irregular migration,’” Drammeh charged, pointing to the EU’s silence and ongoing support for Libyan forces as evidence of complicity. He named EU Ambassador to Libya Nicola Orlando and European Commission official Francisco Joaquin Gaztelu Mezquiriz as key figures in what he calls a “criminal cooperation” that funds and equips perpetrators despite documented abuses.
Drammeh’s statement also called out Libyan militias and security forces, including the DCIM’s Mohamed al-Khoja, the Libyan Police’s Osama Elmasry Njeem, and the RADA Special Deterrent Forces’ Abdul-Raouf Kara, as direct perpetrators. He urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate these actors and the EU for crimes against humanity.
The activists demanded an immediate end to the violence, safe pathways for those in danger, and a halt to EU funding of Libyan forces. “We call upon the Libyan civil society to resist the racist agitation and act in solidarity,” he added while pressing the UNHCR to denounce the attacks and facilitate escapes from Libya.
As the crisis unfolds, Drammeh’s words resonate as both a rallying cry and a warning: “Here are our voices and tears to the world. We fear for the lives and safety of our friends and comrades in Libya.” With the death toll rising and the international response still uncertain, the plight of Black people in Libya remains a stark testament to the intersection of racism, migration policy, and geopolitical indifference.
