Thousands of refugees stranded in Libya have been demonstrating outside the UNHCR headquarters in Tripoli since the beginning of October. The protest followed mass round-ups and arrests of refugees in neighbourhoods and homes in Tripoli. The demonstrators are survivors of human rights violations, torture, arbitrary detention, persecution and extortion that regularly occur in Libya. Many have also survived deportation to Libya.

World public opinion, as well as Member States and EU institutions, are well aware of these atrocities. Faced with this situation, which has gone on for too many years, the refugees in Tripoli have decided to organise themselves and make their voices heard: they are demanding an end to this violence and immediate evacuation to a safe place. Braving fear and the risk of violent repression, they are making their fight for freedom heard around the world.

As the refugees fighting in Tripoli say:

We ask the authorities and the whole world to recognise us as human beings and to respect and protect our rights. And the Libyan authorities should respect and apply international law for asylum seekers in Africa. We are victims of civil wars, we are fleeing religious and political persecution, among us are those seeking a decent life, education and the freedom to live in dignity. But the Italian authorities and the EU Member States have done nothing but aggravate our aching souls by publicly and secretly paying the Libyan authorities and their militias to kill us in the desert, at sea and in terrible concentration camps. All this is a violation of human rights and a crime against humanity. Libya is now a graveyard for thousands of innocent refugees, asylum seekers and migrants fleeing intolerable situations in their home countries. And the idea or political will was and is fully accepted and financed by the Italian authorities and EU member states. We ask the Italian authorities and the EU member states that are paying money to Libya to make sure that their actions and political will do not harm us and violate our rights. And to make sure that the forced deportations to the inhuman Libyan detention centres and then to the countries of origin are stopped. We also call on them to work with the Libyan authorities to close all detention centres in Libya and to free our brothers and sisters who are currently being held in inhumane conditions, persecuted, raped, tortured and killed.

We stand in solidarity with the struggling refugees! With the utmost urgency, we demand - together with them - the immediate evacuation of the refugees stranded in Libya to safe countries in Europe. Many communities and cities across Europe have declared their readiness to welcome the new arrivals and offer them the prospect of a decent life. The EU institutions and Member States, in cooperation with international organisations, have a responsibility to put an end to these atrocities now and have sufficient resources and capacity to ensure immediate evacuations.

NOW is the time for the international community to act. Recognise the refugees living and struggling in Libya as human beings. Respect their rights and listen to their demands.

Support this declaration of solidarity and sign it by sending an email to solidarityreflibya(att)gmail.com