are known to have died at sea. The actual number is likely to be higher. The European Union is seeking to disrupt the smuggling of migrants and trafficking of humans by a number of means including through its naval Operation Sophia 1 . Lifesaving search and rescue operations are carried out by ships belonging to the European Union Operations Sophia and Triton2, and ships of individual European States such as the Italian Coast Guard, non-governmental organizations, and merchant ships3. Rescued migrants are taken to Italy. Some senior government officials in Europe have called for the establishment of migrant camps in North Africa and the return of boats to Libya. However, European Union policy and international law prohibits the return of any individual to a place where she or he is at risk of torture or other serious human rights abuses. The Libyan Coast Guard has also carried out limited search and rescue operations in Libyan territorial waters. The Libyan authorities, with the support of the international community, must do all in their power to address this human rights crisis, starting as a matter of urgency with the situation of migrants in detention. In addition, as the issue of migration has a wider regional and international dimension, countries of origin and destination need to play their role in addressing the crisis. In this present report, UNSMIL and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) propose immediate and mid-term recommendations, with a view to addressing this situation in a manner which is both comprehensive and human rights-based. In this regard, recommendations addressed to the Libyan authorities include, with a view to urgently ending the arbitrary detention of all migrants, to release immediately migrants who are in the most vulnerable situations; reduce the number of detention centres; ensure female detainees are held separately from male detainees; improve conditions of detention; facilitate the work of the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the country; and, in the medium-term, to amend Libyan legislation in order to decriminalize irregular migration; ratify the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol and adopt a national asylum law. In addition, OHCHR and UNSMIL recommend that countries of destination beyond Libya, including Member States of the European Union, expand safe and regular entry channels and the availability of durable solutions; continue search and rescue operations; and ensure that training and support for Libyan institutions which engage with migrants is accompanied by 1 See European Union Naval Force - Mediterranean Operation Sophia, Fact Sheet, 30 November 2016, http://eeas.europa.eu/csdp/missions-and-operations/eunavfor-med/pdf/factsheet_eunavfor_med_en.pdf 2 Operation Sophia and Operation Triton (the latter conducted by Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency) form part of the European Union strategy for managing migration, based on the European Agenda on Migration, the Valletta Summit and the Partnership Framework approach, including through promoting cooperation with countries of origin, transit, and destination. Further information is available at http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/european-agenda-migration/index_en.htm 3 The 1979 International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue requires States parties to ensure that assistance is provided to any person in distress at sea, regardless of the nationality or status of the person or the circumstances in which the person is found and to provide for his or her initial medical or other needs and deliver him or her to a place of safety. 2