Sudanese migrant beaten, shot and killed in Libya after detention escape, says UN

A Sudanese migrant was beaten, shot and killed in Libya after escaping from a government-run detention centre in the North African country, the UN refugee agency said on Wednesday.

The 25-year-old who arrived in Libya two years ago was detained and held in the Mabani detention centre in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, one of more than 5,000 migrants detained in a massive crackdown earlier this month.

The man, from Sudan's war-wrecked Darfur region, was beaten and shot before masked armed men took him to a hospital. He was then transferred to another hospital where he died late Tuesday.

The UNHCR has called for an investigation into the killing and for holding those responsible to account.

Libya holds migrants in overcrowded detention centres where torture, sexual assault and other abuses are rife. Guards at Mabani shot and killed at least six migrants and wounded at least 15 as hundreds staged a breakout and fled the detention centre, according to the UN migration agency.

Libyan authorities recaptured many of migrants while others sought protection at a UNHCR’s facility.

Libya has been engulfed in chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The county has since emerged as migrant hub for those fleeing poverty and civil war in Africa and the Middle East and hoping a better life in Europe.