Nearly 4,000 migrants were reportedly rounded up in and around Tobruk in eastern Libya within two days as Libyan security forces intensified a campaign targeting people described by authorities as undocumented migrants.

The developments were reported in a series of posts by Jihed (@brirmijihed), a hacktivist and PhD researcher focusing on the bioprotection of plants. The posts described the campaign as a large-scale operation involving arrests on land and interceptions at sea.

According to Jihed, the spokesperson for the Al-Batnan Security Directorate, Lt. Issa Al-Jarari, confirmed that nearly 4,000 migrants had been detained over two days, loaded onto trucks and removed from Tobruk.

The claims come amid a major security operation in the Al-Batnan district. Independent reporting on September 25 confirmed that more than 2,000 migrants had been apprehended in a matter of hours during an operation involving police, military police and the 519th Infantry Battalion. (Agenzia Nova)

The Al-Batnan Security Directorate said those detained were people of different nationalities whom authorities considered to be residing in Libya irregularly. They were reportedly handed over to the Authority for Combating Illegal Migration for administrative procedures and transfer out of Tobruk. The Libyan Red Crescent provided medical and humanitarian assistance during the operation. (Agenzia Nova)

Jihed said the first day of the campaign alone saw around 2,000 people rounded up, describing the operation as a mass-arrest campaign feeding into Libya’s system of detention and deportation.

Sea interceptions

The crackdown has also coincided with interceptions of migrant boats attempting to leave the Tobruk area.

In another post, Jihed reported that on 24 September, the Coastal Security branch in Tobruk intercepted a boat carrying 38 Sudanese nationals off Ain al-Ghazala. The migrants were subsequently taken ashore.

He also reported that on 23 September, the Al-Saiqa Special Forces intercepted a boat carrying 30 people approximately four nautical miles off Tobruk.

The incidents highlight the dual approach being used in eastern Libya, with security forces targeting migrants both on land and at sea.

Tobruk has become an increasingly important departure point for the maritime route towards Crete. Recent reporting said more than 2,000 migrants were detained during the latest Al-Batnan operation as pressure increased along the Tobruk-Crete route. (Agenzia Nova)

Concerns over detention and deportation

The latest arrests follow a series of migrant removals from eastern Libya. On September 19, the Al-Batnan branch of the Directorate for Combating Illegal Migration said it had processed 202 migrants in two groups, with one group taken through the Emsaed border crossing with Egypt and another transferred to the Ganfouda detention and deportation centre near Benghazi. (LibyaReview)

Human rights organisations have previously raised concerns about large-scale arrests and removals in eastern Libya, particularly involving Sudanese nationals, and have called for individual screening and respect for the principle of non-refoulement before anyone is returned to a country where they may face persecution or serious harm. (Agenzia Nova)

While Libyan authorities have presented the operations as security and immigration-enforcement measures, Jihed characterised the campaign in strongly critical terms, alleging that the mass arrests amounted to organised persecution of migrants.

The reported scale of the operation, and the subsequent transfer of detainees into Libya’s detention system, is likely to intensify scrutiny of the treatment of migrants and refugees in eastern Libya.

Libyan authorities have apprehended at least 310 undocumented migrants in separate security and anti-smuggling operations in Tajoura, Umm Al-Faris and Tobruk, according to posts by Migrant Rescue Watch.

The operations, carried out by Libya’s Department for Combating Illegal Migration (DCIM), involved raids on suspected migrant-smuggling locations and efforts to prevent attempted sea crossings.

On September 17, 2026, the DCIM Investigation and Arrest Department, acting on intelligence, raided a suspected human-smuggling site in the Tajoura area and arrested 21 migrants of different African nationalities.

According to Migrant Rescue Watch, the migrants were allegedly preparing to cross the Mediterranean by boat. They were subsequently transferred to the East Tripoli Immigration Detention Centre.

On the same day, the DCIM Derna Branch reportedly thwarted an attempted irregular sea crossing in the Umm Al-Faris area.

The operation resulted in the seizure of two boats and the apprehension of 37 migrants, identified as Egyptian and Sudanese nationals. They were transferred into DCIM custody for what the report described as legal action.

Earlier, on August 27, 2026, DCIM, working jointly with police, conducted security operations in Tobruk, targeting locations reportedly being used by undocumented migrants.

The operation resulted in the apprehension of 252 migrants of various nationalities, who were subsequently transferred to DCIM custody for completion of legal procedures and repatriation.

Taken together, the three operations involved 310 migrants, according to the figures published by Migrant Rescue Watch. The organisation’s posts describe the actions as part of Libya’s continuing efforts to disrupt irregular migration and human-smuggling networks.

Migrant Rescue Watch’s reporting has also documented other recent interceptions, arrests, transfers and repatriations involving migrants in Libya. (sotwe)

The figures and details in this report are based on information published by Migrant Rescue Watch; independent verification of the individual operations was not provided in the posts cited.

Five years after refugees and migrants in Libya launched the 100 Days Protest following mass arrests in Tripoli, Refugees in Libya is set to convene activists, survivors, lawyers and migrant-led organisations in Berlin to reflect on the struggle and the pursuit of accountability.

The event, titled “From the Streets of Tripoli to the ICC: Five Years of Struggle and Solidarity with Refugees in Libya,” will take place on October 3, 2026, at the Spore Initiative in Berlin.

The protest began on October 1, 2021, following mass raids in the Gargaresh area of Tripoli, during which thousands of refugees and migrants were arrested. While some were taken to detention centres, others gathered outside the UNHCR office, where they remained for more than three months demanding protection, evacuation, freedom and an end to violence and abuses in Libya.

According to Refugees in Libya, the protest became a defining moment for migrant-led organising and continued to shape its work over the following five years.

The Berlin gathering comes as proceedings against **Khaled El Hishri**, a former official at Mitiga Prison, move forward at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The ICC has confirmed all 17 charges against El Hishri, involving alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes, and committed the case to trial.

Refugees in Libya said the case is significant for survivors who experienced or witnessed alleged torture, sexual violence, enslavement, enforced disappearances and killings in Mitiga and other detention facilities.

The organisation, however, said the case also raises broader questions about Libya’s detention and migration-control system.

It said refugees and migrants have for years faced detention, exploitation and violence across Libya, while people attempting to cross the Mediterranean are intercepted and returned to the country.

Refugees in Libya also questioned the role of European governments and institutions in supporting structures involved in interception and containment, arguing that accountability should examine the wider system rather than focus exclusively on individual perpetrators.

The event will examine the El Hishri proceedings, survivor participation and the limits and possibilities of international justice. Speakers will include **David Yambio of Refugees in Libya** and **Allison West of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR)**, with the discussion moderated by Viola Castellano.

The organisers said the gathering will also explore how survivors can participate in legal and political processes without being reduced to witnesses, and how court cases can contribute to wider organising and mobilisation.

A second session will bring together migrant-led organisations, African diaspora groups, anti-racist movements, lawyers, journalists, researchers, artists and other groups to discuss solidarity, legal advocacy and collective action.

A multimedia exhibition featuring photographs, testimonies and material from the 100 Days Protest will accompany the event.

Refugees in Libya said the gathering is intended not simply as a commemoration of the 2021 protest, but as an opportunity to examine continuing conditions facing refugees and migrants in Libya.

The programme will begin with an exhibition at 3:30 p.m., followed by a discussion on five years of Refugees in Libya’s organising at 4 p.m. The El Hishri ICC case session is scheduled for 4:45 p.m., followed by food and informal exchanges and small-group discussions from 6:45 p.m.

The event will be held in English, with free entry, at Spore Initiative, Hermannstraße 86, Berlin-Neukölln.