Deserts of Silence: Bangladeshi Women Trapped in Libya’s Torture Market

By Tuhin Sarwar | March 14, 2026

The arid deserts of Libya and the vast, restless Mediterranean conceal a world of horror where Bangladeshi women are treated as mere commodities. Dreams of Europe fade under the weight of exploitation, with 14-year-old girls facing systematic gang rape, and desperate women forced to trade their bodies for a single glass of clean water. This normalized “business model” of sexual slavery has persisted, unchecked, over the last five years, leaving thousands of lives scarred and countless graves unmarked.

When the hot wind sweeps over Benghazi’s desert, the cries from Tripoli’s Al-Mabani’ detention center vanish into the roar of the Mediterranean. Twenty-five-year-old Morium (alias) returned to Dhaka on March 6, 2026, her eyes vacant, carrying only the weight of trauma. For seven months, she had been a sexual slave to a Libyan militia leader before being rescued through the assistance of the International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Yet, Morium’s ordeal is far from unique. Hundreds of Bangladeshi women remain trapped in Libya, their bodies and aspirations fuel for the financial and political power of militias.

Morium’s journey began in 2021 in a small village in Comilla. Recruited by local agents under the pretext of legitimate work in a Dubai beauty parlour,” she was forcibly transported to Libya within weeks. Upon arrival, she was taken to a cramped, dark room in Tripoli a “safe house” in the eyes of traffickers.

They tore my passport. On the first night, the guards told me I was their property. Days were spent cooking and cleaning, nights standing in line for militia sexual abuse. We had to trade our bodies for water,” Morium recalls.

This is not an isolated story. The OHCHR report, February 17, 2026 confirms that women and girls in Libyan detention centers face systematic sexual violence, often coerced under the pretense of food or water.

2021: Initial reports from the IOM and Bangladesh Bureau of Manpower, Employment, and Training (BMET)

indicated an alarming increase in women trafficked through the Dubai-Libya corridor. At least 212 Bangladeshi women were documented as rescued from Libyan detention facilities. Many described harrowing experiences of being sold directly to militia groups upon arrival, and forced into sexual slavery immediately.

2022: Investigations by Amnesty International highlighted that the number of women in Libyan detention centers had surged to an estimated 1,400, with Bangladesh consistently among the top countries of origin. EU funding for Libyan coastguard operations inadvertently fueled the system, as migrants intercepted in the Mediterranean were returned to detention centers instead of safe alternatives. Families were forced to pay ransom averaging $5,000–$8,000 per woman, while militia leaders profited from ongoing sexual exploitation.

2023: UNHCR documented that conditions in militia-controlled camps like ‘Shara al-Jawiya’ and ‘Osama Prison’ had worsened. Women endured daily gang rapes, sometimes in front of family members, with minimal access to medical care. Survivors reported coerced abortions due to repeated sexual violence. The UN described the situation as a business-as-usual model of sexual slavery, emphasizing the systemic nature of abuse (UNSMIL/OHCHR, 2023 ).

2024: Italy’s Supreme Court clarified that Libya was not a safe port for migrants, countering externalization policies by EU member states. Despite legal rulings, the exploitation cycle persisted, strengthened by the collusion of local militias, such as the Stability Support Authority (SSA), and Bangladeshi recruiters. IOM facilitated repatriation flights, but statistics showed that only 341 Bangladeshi women returned safely, compared to an estimated 2,000 still in captivity or exploitation.

2025: A surge in trafficking was noted in early 2025, as militia leaders expanded networks with Middle Eastern transit points in Dubai and Jordan. Amnesty International’s 2025 report

detailed that detention centers routinely traded women’s freedom for ransoms, food, or water. Survivors returning to Bangladesh carried not just physical wounds but enduring post-traumatic stress, social stigma, and economic vulnerability. The Bangladesh Embassy’s evacuation operations, although saving hundreds, remained dwarfed by the scale of trafficking.

March 2026: On March 6, 2026, a rescue flight brought back 165 Bangladeshis, including Morium, while another 176 were repatriated in March 2025 under similar circumstances. Survivors reported extreme malnutrition, untreated injuries, and severe psychological trauma. Authorities acknowledge that thousands remain in Libya’s dark detention corridors, their plight largely invisible to the world.

The human cost is staggering. Women are subjected to daily sexual exploitation, coerced abortions, physical assaults, and the trauma of witnessing violence against peers and children. Families often face extortion and threats, with traffickers using videos and photographs to maintain control. Survivors who manage to escape often hide their experiences for fear of societal ostracization, leaving the system largely unchallenged.

Libya’s non-ratification of the 1951 Refugee Convention ensures migrants remain outside legal protection. EU funding of Libyan coastguards unintentionally strengthens the trafficking apparatus, as intercepted migrants are returned to militia-run detention centers. Investigations reveal a pattern: local Bangladeshi recruiters coordinate with Middle Eastern transit agents, transferring women into the hands of Libyan militias. Payment flows via hawala networks, ensuring both traffickers and militias profit from ongoing sexual exploitation.

Within detention centers, conditions are unimaginably dire. Survivors describe confined spaces, minimal sanitation, lack of medical care, and a climate of constant threat. Systematic sexual abuse includes gang rape, forced abortions, sexual coercion in exchange for food or water, and repeated physical assaults. Reports from UNSMIL/OHCHR 2026

and Amnesty International underscore that women and girls, some as young as 14, are abused in ways that constitute crimes against humanity.

The psychological impact is devastating. Survivors often suffer from PTSD, anxiety, depression, and profound social stigma. Reintegration into families and communities is fraught with challenges, as societal perceptions and lack of support services compound trauma. Many women report living in fear, unable to disclose the full extent of their experiences.

International response has been inadequate. While Bangladesh’s embassy and IOM have coordinated rescue operations, the pace and scale are insufficient. EU policies, while claiming to stem migration, have inadvertently reinforced human trafficking networks. Libya’s internal political instability, militia dominance, and absence of state accountability ensure that traffickers operate with near-total impunity.

Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, described the situation as an unending nightmare. The enduring question remains: will Libya’s detention centers close and trafficking networks dismantled, or will the cries of survivors continue to fade into the desert winds and the Mediterranean’s roar ?

The last five years, from 2021 to March 2026, reveal a systematic, transnational network that targets the most vulnerable. The patterns of recruitment, transit, abuse, and ransoming form a continuous cycle of human rights violations. International oversight, legal accountability, and humanitarian interventions are urgently required to halt this modern form of slavery