The Libyan government has instructed the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that it should close its offices and stop all activities in the country with immediate effect.

Libya is not signed up to the 1951 Refugee Convention and has no asylum process in place. The role of the UNHCR in Libya was vital, and responsible for registering and determining refugee status. It provided humanitarian assistance to displaced people and those deemed to be refugees under the 1951 definition.

With its newly made relationship with the European Union, and in particular Italy, it is a wonder that there has been no official statement from any European government.

In 2004, 80,000 people reached Italy from Libya. By 2005, Italy and Libya had formed a controversial relationship which was framed in the targets of securing the borders of the EU to prevent entry; and to return “illegal migrants” to their countries of origin, or at least to the country of transit.

The Forced Migration Review wrote in May 2005 that:

As part of a unilateral agreement between Italy and Libya, the Italian government is planning to send 150 police officers to Libya to help train their Libyan counterparts. In addition, Libya will be purchasing military equipment and vehicles from Italy – including airplanes, boats, helicopters and jeeps needed to block the trafficking of illegal immigrants into Europe. Italy has said that plans to set up transit camps in Libya will go ahead, no matter what the opposition to them.

A BBC Panorama series revealed the ill-treatment of captured men, women and children in Libya and their subsequent journey across the Mediterranean sea. Those thought to be “illegal” and found inside the Italian borders  are usually deported back to Libya.

With no human rights law of its own, the relationship between the EU and Libya is condemned by groups such as Amnesty International. In their 2009 report of Libya, Amnesty said:

There were persistent reports of torture and other ill-treatment of detained migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers; the latter were not afforded protection, as required by international refugee law.

Europe, including the UK, must lead by example. We are already in a relationship with a country that has no regard for international human rights. Without the oversight of the UNHCR, Libya’s treatment of people, especially migrants, will only get worse.