Videos have been doing the rounds on the social media of migrants with the intention of crossing the mediterranean sea to get into Europe being tortured and sexually abused in Libya.
Due to the measures put in place by the European countries, some of the migrants don’t make it to their destination, hence, they are turned to sex slaves in Libya.
This is one of the fallouts that the country has been facing since the killing of its Leader, Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
A report by CNN brought to light the modern slavery in Libya and has attracted the attention of the International Community who has decried the situation.
Background
Libya is the main gateway for people attempting to reach Europe by sea, with more than 150,000 people making the crossing in each of the past three years.
“They [the refugees] are from several African countries and they say they have fled war, poverty and unemployment in their countries .
“They have taken a tough journey through the desert and they have paid people smugglers to get to Libya to try to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.
“With the security and financial collapse in Libya, human trafficking and smuggling have become a booming trade,” says Mahmoud Abdelwahed, reporting from a detention centre in the Libyan capital Tripoli.
Modern-day slavery is widespread around the world and Libya is by no means unique … But what’s particularly shocking is that this is happening effectively in the open, where people can go to a farmhouse, place a bid and end up ‘owning’ a human being.
There is no proper registration process for the tens of thousands of refugees arriving in Libya.
According to reports, the business of detention centres is unsupervised in some parts of Libya and stories of torture, rape and forced labour have emerged.
When the centres get too crowded, people are then allegedly sold off like goods in an open market. Survivors have told the UN’s migration agency that they use smartphones to connect with people smugglers to get them to Libya’s coast, and that they were then sold, being held for ransom, used as forced labour or for sexual exploitation.
The International Organization for Migration says trade in humans has become so normalised that people are being bought and sold in public for as little as $400.
“As shocking as it seems, it’s indeed true,” Leonard Doyle from the International Organization for Migration tells Counting the Cost.
“The reason it [slave trade] can happen is because there is really no rule of law across much of Libya. Libya is a country as big as France, with a lot of space there.
“Migrants are coming there … they see the promise of a new life when they go to their Facebook feed and they think something wonderful is waiting for them in Europe, because a smuggler has abused the system and has sold them that lie.”
He explains that when they arrive in Libya, “they get off the bus and they are quickly put into a kind of murder machine, an extortion machine. They are robbed of their possessions, their families are called.
They are forced, they are tortured, they give them money. And then they are sold. Unbelievable, but they are sold in open, public auctions: $400 for a labouring man, maybe a bit more for a woman who can be put in the sex trade. And this is what’s happening across the country.”
International Outcry
The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres said he was horrified by the video footage.
“I am horrified at news reports and video footage showing African migrants in Libya reportedly being sold as slaves,” António Guterres said to reporters on Monday. “Slavery has no place in our world, and these actions are among the most egregious abuses of human rights and may amount to crimes against humanity.”
Guterres called for the international community to unite in fighting the abuse and smuggling of migrants, notably by increasing avenues for legal migration and enhancing international cooperation in cracking down on smugglers and traffickers.
Former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan via his twitter account expressed shock at the sad news coming from Libya while also calling for International support to put an end to modern day slavery.
I am shocked and angered by the recent media reports of African migrants being sold as slaves in Libyan auctions. The Libyan authorities must take urgent steps to eradicate these abuses, and the international community must provide necessary support. https://t.co/PFO8Wt4L8x http://pic.twitter.com/kJNzOU1Jjx
— Kofi Annan (@KofiAnnan) November 22, 2017
US singer, Chris Brown has also lamented the slave trade in Libya, he accused the media of being biased in their reports. He claimed that the slave trade would have been on forefront if it had happened in Europe or US.
Libyan ambassadors in African countries like Niger Republic, DR Congo have been summoned by their host countries.
Watch Video Below;
WATCH: Africans being sold like animals in Arab countries. Slavery for blacks is still happening in 2017. #HumanTrafficking http://pic.twitter.com/DaNw4AR3rx
— Phil Mphela (@PhilMphela) November 15, 2017
Libyan ambassadors in African countries like Niger Republic, DR Congo have been summoned by their host countries.
The post [REVEALED] Trending Report Of Nigerians, African Migrants Being Sold In Libya Slave Market Sparks Outrage Worldwide appeared first on LATEST NIGERIAN NEWS BREAKING HEADLINES NEWSPAPERS.
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