held in regular prisons across Libya. In early 2012, the Passport Investigations Department was largely replaced by DCIM. According to the information available to UNSMIL at least two detention facilities in western Libya are still under the control of the Passport Investigations Department. DCIM, which operates under the Ministry of Interior, bears the main responsibility for management of migrant detention centres, and represents the key national institution which works with migrants in Libya. Another key institution is the Libyan Coast Guard which is part of the Libyan Navy and operates under the Minister of Defence.45 It is responsible for search and rescue at sea operations. Both institutions are subjected to pressure from armed groups, which have proliferated since 2011 and appear to be the most powerful actors in the system of smuggling, trafficking, and abuse. Armed groups have threatened Libyan Coast Guard and DCIM staff to hand over migrants. UNSMIL has received reports indicating that Libyan Coast Guard and DCIM staff members have worked with armed groups, smugglers and traffickers to exploit migrants for profit. Inadequate resources and working conditions, lack of sufficiently trained and disciplined staff, and the activities of armed groups and criminal networks, have contributed to the worsening of conditions in DCIM centres and have affected operations at sea, exposing migrants to further risks and abuses. Migrants in detention in Libya are usually held arbitrarily for indefinite periods, during which their detention is not reviewed by competent judicial authority. They also have no due process guarantees or access to legal counsel to seek legal recourse. They are held in DCIM immigration detention centres as well as in at least two centres run by the Passport Investigation Department and in unofficial detention centres run by armed groups. There are 24 detention centers run by the DCIM but not all are functional. They hold between 4,000 to 7,000 detainees in total, with numbers varying significantly from one centre to the next. DCIM has granted IOM, UNHCR, and other agencies and NGOs access to detention centres to provide humanitarian assistance such as hygiene kits and other items of immediate necessity, as well as basic medical care.46 45 In addition to the Libyan Coast Guard, a civilian Shore and Port Security department operates under the Minister of Interior. It does not carry out search and rescue operations at sea. 46 IOM and UNHCR are working with the Libyan Coast Guard and DCIM to establish a “Contact Group” for information sharing and to coordinate the response to refugees or asylum seekers and migrants rescued at sea and brought into Libyan territory. The Contact Group will consist of interlocutors at the front-line from the Libyan Coast Guard, the Libyan Red Crescent Society, affected Municipalities, and various other national and international actors. In addition, a Detention Task Force co-chaired by IOM and UNHCR and including UNSMIL and other international organizations meets regularly to coordinate work in detention centres including those managed by DCIM. 13