Women and child migrants raped, beaten in Libyan 'hellholes,' UNICEF says

Women andchildren making the dangerous journey to Europe to flee povertyand conflicts in Africa are being beaten, raped and starved in"living hellholes" in Libya, the United Nations children'sagency (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.

The Mediterranean Sea between Libya and Italy has become themain crossing point for asylum seekers and economic migrantsseeking a better life in Europe, after a clampdown on seacrossings from Turkey.

There were a quarter of a million migrants in Libya as oflast September, most of whom languish in unsanitary,disease-ridden detention centres which UNICEF described in itsreport as "no more than forced labour camps and makeshiftprisons."

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Armed groups have taken effective control of officialdetention centres for migrants amid the political chaos that nowreigns in Libya and they also run their own centres, competingand cooperating with criminal gangs and smugglers, according tothe United Nations.

"For the thousands of migrant women and childrenincarcerated, [the centres]were living hellholes where peoplewere held for months," the UNICEF report said on Tuesday.

In interviews with more than 100 women and children, nearlyhalf said they had been raped or abused several times duringtheir journey, it said. Most of the children said they werebeaten by adults along the way, with girls suffering more abusethan boys.

"Here [in the detention centre]they treat us like chickens.They beat us, they do not give us good water and good food,"said Jon, a 14-year-old boy who travelled alone from Nigeria toescape the militant group Boko Haram.

"So many people are dying here, dying from disease, freezingto death," he was quoted as saying in the report.

Vulnerable to exploitation

UNICEF said women and unaccompanied child migrants rely onpeople smugglers to get to Europe, often under a "pay as you gosystem,"leaving them vulnerable to exploitation, traffickingand violence, including prostitution and rape.

Smugglers typically demand thousands of dollars frommigrants for a risky journey across the desert before crammingthem onto ill-equipped boats for a perilous crossing of theMediterranean.

"The route is mostly controlled by smugglers, traffickersand other people seeking to prey upon desperate children andwomen who are simply seeking refuge or a better life," saidAfshan Khan, head of UNICEF's refugee operations in Europe.

Having largely closed off sea crossings between Turkey andGreece last year, the European Union is searching for ways tostem the flow of migrants from Libya.

This month European leaders offered Libya money and otherassistance to try to reduce the numbers departing across theMediterranean. Aid groups criticized the move, saying such plansexposed migrants to further risks and abuses within Libya.

Last year, a record 181,000 migrants crossed between Libyaand Italy, the UN's migration agency reports. More than 4,500people drowned, and at least 700 were children, UNICEF said.

"Children should not be forced to put their lives in thehands of smugglers because there are simply no alternatives,"said Khan in a statement.

"We need to address globally the drivers of migration andwork together toward a robust system of safe and legal passagefor children on the move, whether refugees or migrants."