A/HRC/18/54 reported that around 846,000 people had left the country since the start of the conflict.4 Of these, some 648,083 were migrants, including 299,763 people from third countries (namely, not from the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya or the neighbouring countries into which they had arrived). The scale of movement was often staggering: in February, humanitarian organizations reported that up to 14,000 people had crossed the border between the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and Tunisia in one day.5 5. Apart from the estimated 186,000 Libyan nationals who remain displaced outside their country,6 migrants who arrive in neighbouring countries, such as Tunisia and Egypt, are located in various sites at the border until they can be evacuated or returned to other countries. 6. Many thousands of refugees living in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya prior to the uprising remain stranded there or in border camps, unable to return to the country because of the ongoing instability or to their countries of origin for fear of persecution and other human rights violations. 7. By early August, nearly 48,000 people had arrived at the seaports of Italy and 1,535 people had arrived in Malta.7 This movement included thousands of Tunisians who had left their country in the aftermath of the revolution of January 2011. II. Human rights concerns 8. Human rights concerns have been reported in the contexts described below with regard to the situation of migrants and asylum-seekers fleeing recent events in North Africa. A. Discrimination and violence against migrants 9. Prior to the outbreak of conflict in February 2011, there were an estimated 2.5 million migrant workers in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya who were making significant contributions to the economy of the country.8 Since the 1990s, large populations of migrant workers had arrived in the country through regular and irregular channels. The majority worked as low-wage labourers in key industries, such as in oil, construction and agriculture. Refugees and asylum-seekers from such countries as Eritrea, Somalia, the Sudan and Côte d’Ivoire came to the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in search of refuge. Some migrants and asylum-seekers entered the country in the hope of continuing onwards to other countries in the region and beyond. 10. While in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, migrants and asylum-seekers were vulnerable to human rights violations. Migrants from sub-Saharan Africa were reportedly subject to xenophobic attacks or hostility from the local population, and portrayed in the media as responsible for criminal behaviour. Migrants and asylum-seekers could be subject to arbitrary and prolonged detention, inhumane treatment, degrading conditions, violence, extortion and sexual abuse in detention, as well as being at risk of forced expulsions and 4 5 6 7 8 4 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Crisis situation report No. 52, 7 August 2011. As at 7 August, a total of 808,281 Libyans had at one time crossed the border to escape the conflict, with many eventually returning to the country. UNHCR press briefing notes, 1 March 2011. IOM, Migration crisis from Libya, Daily Statistical Report, 7 August 2011. UNHCR submission, 29 July 2011, and submission of the Government of Malta, 11 August 2011. United Nations Regional Flash Appeal for the Libyan Crisis, 5 March 2011.