Amnesty International has accused the European Union of deepening a migration partnership with Libyan authorities it says are responsible for systematic racism, mass abuses and unlawful expulsions of migrants and refugees.

The rights group warns that Brussels is pressing ahead with plans to expand cooperation with both the UN-recognised government in Tripoli and the rival eastern administration, even as both sides intensify raids, arbitrary detentions and deportations targeting mainly sub-Saharan Africans.

Central to Amnesty’s concerns is an EU-backed proposal to establish a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Benghazi, in territory controlled by forces loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar. The centre would coordinate search-and-rescue operations and interceptions in the Mediterranean, effectively giving eastern armed groups greater control over who reaches European shores.

Amnesty argues that this risks entrenching a system in which people intercepted at sea are returned to a country where they face torture, forced labour, sexual violence and extortion in a sprawling network of official and unofficial detention sites. UN investigators and humanitarian organisations have for years documented patterns of enslavement, ransom kidnappings and killings of migrants in Libya.

Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty’s deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said the EU is already “complicit in horrific violations” through its funding, training and equipping of the Libyan coast guard, which routinely intercepts overcrowded boats and sends those on board back to Libyan soil.

Extending that cooperation to eastern-based armed groups accused of war crimes, she added, shows a “shocking disregard” for international law and for the lives of refugees and migrants. Amnesty says both rival authorities have fuelled a hostile climate with openly xenophobic and racist rhetoric, portraying foreign nationals as a security and demographic threat.

Libya’s fragmentation since the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi has turned the country into a major gateway for people attempting the dangerous Mediterranean crossing to Europe. The International Organization for Migration estimates that around 900,000 migrants and refugees are currently in Libya, many trapped in cycles of exploitation and violence.

Amnesty is urging the EU and its member states to halt policies that prioritise containment over protection, and to suspend cooperation that enables interceptions and returns to Libya until credible safeguards and accountability mechanisms are in place.