Published 30th Aug, 2023

An unnamed Nigerian female refugee has cried out for help from a migration detention centre in Tripoli, Libya.

According to the Guardian UK, the detention centre, popularly called the Abu Salim, is a place where Libyan authorities imprison sub-Saharan asylum seekers, both male and female, apprehended while trying to travel illegally to Europe.

In a video sighted by FIJ, the Nigerian women could be heard shouting for help while making a video of one of the rooms in the centre where hundreds of female asylum seekers were crammed together on beds.

“We are in Abu Salim prison! Please help us o. This woman just died this morning,” the Nigerian refugee said in the 45-second-long video, focusing her gadget on the lifeless body of a lady believed to be from Somalia.

“She died this morning. It is not just this lady who has died. Another lady also died this morning.

“This place is a prison. Please, help us!”

The somewhat malnourished woman was motionless on a concrete floor, unclothed, and with her eyes open. She was said to have died of tuberculosis.

The video is said to be one of the many glimpses of the harsh treatments endured by refugees in the North African country.

Dozens of asylum seekers detained at the facility have also reportedly contracted the disease, with aid workers reporting they were languishing in crowded rooms filled with mattresses and lacking access to medical care.

Numerous NGOs had reported repeated incidents of violence against refugees and migrants held at the Abu Salim.

A refugee who was once detained at the facility claimed that the only way to leave the Abu Salim was by paying a ransom of $1,000 to its officials.

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