Migrants Sold as Slaves in Libya
People are being sold as slaves in the African country of Libya. Let that statement sink in for a moment. In 2017 we have people being sold into slavery. West African migrants are being sold in modern-day slave markets in Libya as reported by the Guardian in April of 2017. It is now November of 2017 and not only has the slave trade continued some argue it has grown.
Many of the people being kidnapped and sold are escaping war, persecution or extremely harsh conditions in various parts of Africa. The people have little money or access to resources and are trying to escape their plight in Africa and get to Europe where they won’t be thrust into war or attacked by their own government. It’s hard to imagine a situation so bad you’d literally walk across the Sahara desert, get on flimsy boat in Libya, to travel to a country where you’ve never been, you don’t speak the language, and all you have to your name is whatever you can carry on your back. Now take that scenario and add being harassed, attacked, kidnapped and sold into slavery never making it to Europe, possibly never to be free again.
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Since the fall of Muammar el-Qaddafi in Libya the country has been in violent turmoil, and based on it’s location is now a hub for human trafficking and smuggling. Take the chaos of the country, the location, and European countries like Italy that feel as though they can not take any additional immigrants and we have a recipe for a horrible human rights nightmare. It was reported in August by the New York Times that the flow of immigrants from Libya has slowed and no one knows why. In this report there is a connection between the Italian government and the Libyan coast guard, and smugglers being paid to not smuggle into Europe. The flow of migrants from Libya to Italy has remained low and now we know why. The smugglers stopped smuggling into Italy and started trafficking all over the world.
I could make an argument that United States still has not recovered from slavery as racial tensions are evident in our social and news media and constantly played upon in politics. The idea that slavery is currently being perpetrated among people anywhere but especially Africa is unforgivable. Africa has been ravaged by slavery for hundreds of years, and for the first time in history, most of the world agrees that slavery is an evil that cannot be supported, yet as a civilization we’re letting it happen right in front of us and doing nothing.
How do we put a stop to this, how do we as a collective make sure this is brought to an end? Many will throw up their hands and say nothing, others will say it’s Libya’s problem and be done with it. I believe that there are solutions. I may not have all the answers but I believe there is a multifaceted approach that the UN and yes, the United States can take to end this. First and for most, snuff out the smugglers and de-incentivize them from doing business. They need to be ran out of their current comfort zones and made to feel that someone is always watching. The smugglers themselves need to be jailed and punished and their organizations decimated. There are a number of nonprofit organizations that can aid with the migration of people that will provide a safer and humane voyage.
While attacking smuggling rings, attention needs to be placed on the countries these people are running from. Can help put an end to the war and destruction in those countries without getting sucked into a geopolitical quagmire like Vietnam? I’m not 100% confident we can, but at some point we have to stop ignoring whats happening across the African continent and start to offer solutions. The world has drained the continent of Africa of its people, its resources, and its sovereignty, after a few hundred years of neglect I think it’s time we lend a legitimate hand without expecting something in return.
West African migrants are being bought and sold openly in modern-day slave markets in Libya, survivors have told a UN agency helping them return home.
Trafficked people passing through Libya have previously reported violence, extortion and slave labour. But the new testimony from the International Organization for Migration suggests that the trade in human beings has become so normalised that people are being traded in public.
“The latest reports of ‘slave markets’ for migrants can be added to a long list of outrages [in Libya],” said Mohammed Abdiker, IOM’s head of operation and emergencies. “The situation is dire. The more IOM engages inside Libya, the more we learn that it is a vale of tears for all too many migrants.”
The north African nation is a major exit point for refugees from Africa trying to take boats to Europe. But since the overthrow of autocratic leader Muammar Gaddafi, the vast, sparsely populated country has slid into violent chaos and migrants with little cash and usually no papers are particularly vulnerable.
One 34-year-old survivor from Senegal said he was taken to a dusty lot in the south Libyan city of Sabha after crossing the desert from Niger in a bus organised by people smugglers. The group had paid to be taken to the coast, where they planned to risk a boat trip to Europe, but their driver suddenly said middlemen had not passed on his fees and put his passengers up for sale.
“Several other migrants confirmed his story, independently describing kinds of slave markets as well as kinds of private prisons all over in Libya,” Manente said. “IOM Italy has confirmed that this story is similar to many stories reported by migrants and collected at landing points in southern Italy, including the slave market reports. This gives more evidence that the stories reported are true, as the stories of those who managed to cross-match those who are returning back to their countries.”
Steve
Steve is an affordable multifamily housing professional that is also the co-founder of Whiskey Congress. Steve has written for national publications such as The National Marijuana News and other outlets as a guest blogger on topics covering sports, politics, and cannabis. Steve loves whiskey, cigars, and uses powerlifting as an outlet to deal with the fact that no one listens to his brilliant ideas.
