Libyan Government Bans Sudanese Entry, Orders Deportations as Refugees Face Rising Hostility

24 June 2026

Passengers board an aircraft at Mitiga International Airport, located east of Tripoli, Libya, on December 12, 2019, AFP photo

 June 2, 2026 (TRIPOLI) – Thousands of Sudanese refugees in Libya are facing severe hardships following a government crackdown on undocumented foreigners that has restricted their movement and stoked fears of targeted hostility.

Since war broke out in Sudan in April 2023, thousands have fled to neighbouring Libya. Many now find themselves facing a new crisis, marked by unemployment, economic hardship, and mounting security threats.

Osama Hammad, the prime minister of the eastern-based government appointed by the parliament, has issued a decree banning citizens from Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia from entering Libyan territory via all land, sea, and air ports. The order also mandates the deportation of any foreign nationals currently in the country without valid residency permits.

Libyan media reported on Wednesday that the decree exempts accredited diplomatic and consular staff and their families. It also excludes individuals working in the education and healthcare sectors, provided they possess official approvals and employment contracts.

The human toll of the measures has begun to emerge, with one Sudanese refugee in Libya recounting how her unborn child died after public hospitals refused to treat her because she lacked valid legal status or entry permits.

The refugee, who spoke to the media on condition of anonymity, said she went into labour last week and was turned away by multiple government facilities demanding official documents. She was unable to afford the 7,000 Libyan dinars ($1,440) that private hospitals requested.

After suffering severe bleeding and receiving no medical assistance, she returned home, where the fetus died. She was later rushed back to a hospital with a severe fever following appeals from her husband, who offered to donate his kidney to secure her emergency treatment.

Other Sudanese refugees report that local hostility is rising as their numbers grow, amid broader economic anxieties among Libyans who view the newcomers as competitors for scarce jobs.

Refugees face verbal abuse, physical assaults, and armed threats, compounded by growing hate speech online. Some landlords have advised Sudanese tenants to remain indoors and have helped hide their valuables, laptops, and identification cards to protect them from authorities.

Movement remains highly restricted, with many Sudanese avoiding public spaces or streets except for absolute emergencies out of fear of harassment.

Reports on social media indicate that more than 70 Sudanese families tried to flee western Libya toward the eastern border to reach Egypt or return to Sudan. However, they were blocked at a checkpoint in Sirte and remain stranded in the open.

With dangerous land routes, high costs for air travel, and a tightening grip on human smuggling networks, many displaced families say they have been left with no safe options.

Human rights group Amnesty International reported on Wednesday that both the eastern-based administration and the rival, Tripoli-based Government of National Unity have intensified a coordinated crackdown. The group accused both factions of carrying out mass arbitrary arrests, detentions, and collective expulsions that specifically target Sudanese refugees and other Black Sub-Saharan migrants.

State-endorsed xenophobic rhetoric has fueled anti-migrant protests and violent vigilantism across the politically divided nation, the rights group said.

Official figures from the Directorate for Combating Illegal Migration (DCIM) show that the eastern-based branch alone detained between 7,000 and 8,000 migrants pending expulsion, including 4,500 individuals arrested since May. In western Libya, authorities carried out the summary expulsion of more than 800 people from Tripoli’s Mitiga airport during the same period without allowing them to claim asylum.

Amnesty International documented severe abuses within the detention network, noting that the DCIM explicitly refuses to recognize refugee status cards. Detainees have reported severe overcrowding, the denial of necessary medical treatment, and forced deportations directly to Port Sudan.

The escalation comes as the European Union actively seeks to expand its migration cooperation with Libyan actors, including plans to establish a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in the eastern city of Benghazi. Amnesty International condemned the EU containment policies, warning that expanding cooperation with these armed groups deepens European complicity in human rights abuses.