Libya: A Dutch letter to Gheddaffi, “We burn migrants.” · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

On the 26th of October 2005 a fire raged in the Dutch Schiphol Airport Detention Centre. Eleven migrants died.
In an Open Letter to Gheddaffi a Dutch media-activist informs the Libyan president about the fate of three Libyan citizens. One died in the fire; another survived but “was treated in a sub-human way” by Dutch authorities; and third stands accused of starting the fire and still in custody, even after two separate judges ordered his immediate release in the last weeks… “None of them were accused of any crime or violation, not even of trespassing. Being declared ‘illegal’ doesn't constitute a criminal offense according to Dutch law. Yet [..] they usually suffer the same restrictions as suspects of common crimes, or worse even when they are housed in temporary facilities like ‘detention-boats’, hangars, or containers.“