Migrants in Libya detention center recount dire conditions

Migrants held in a detention center in southern Libya say they live in unhygienic conditions and often face food shortages amid neglect from international organizations.

Among those in the dilapidated center in the city of Sabha, which is about 650 kilometers, or 400 miles, south of the capital, Tripoli, is Ahmed Saleh Ibrahim, a 19-year-old Sudanese who made his way into Libya with the help of smugglers last year.

Ibrahim says “the most important thing we want is the cleaning materials, as well as food.”

Libya became a major conduit for African migrants fleeing to Europe after the 2011 uprising that ousted and killed longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi.

The EU has spent millions to equip and train Libya’s coast guard and to improve the conditions of the detention centers.