Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of refugees and migrants currently held under duress by traffickers in Libya; and what plans, if any, exist for freeing them.

The British Government remains deeply concerned that people smugglers and traffickers continue to exploit the desperation of migrants in Libya. Libya is a very challenging environment to operate in, which makes it difficult to accurately assess the number of migrants and refugees currently detained. The International Organisation for Migration estimate that 4,800 migrants are held in official detention centres, often subject to poor conditions and overcrowding, but this figure does not account for those held elsewhere by traffickers, militias or other armed groups. The Government has been clear that more needs to be done to break the business model of people smugglers and is taking steps to ensure that those responsible for trafficking are held to account. This includes supporting efforts to sanction people smugglers and build the capacity of Libyan law enforcement agencies. As part of these efforts, in June 2018, the UK together with international partners co-designated UN sanctions against six Libyan and Eritrean people traffickers.