Pope Francis has called for the closing of migrant detention camps in Libya, saying they were rife with torture and slavery.

Francis, who has made the defence of migrants and refugees a key part of his pontificate, made his comments to refugees brought to Italy by the Vatican from a transit camp on the Greek island of Lesbos.

“How can we fail to hear the cry of so many brothers and sisters who prefer to face a tempestuous sea rather than die slowly in Libyan detention camps, places of torture and ignoble slavery?” he said.

More than 5,000 refugees and migrants are held in 19 official detention facilities in Libya, some controlled by armed groups, as well as an unknown number in squalid centres run by traffickers, says the UN. Rights groups say abuses, including beating and forced labour, are rife.

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