Modern Day Slavery: Libyan Migrants to be Auctioned and Sold to Buyers
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By EMILY RUBINO
In early November, hidden camera footage emerged of West African migrants being rounded up and auctioned off to buyers off the coast of Libya.
According to Libya’s conflict and economic instability, thousands of people have migrated out of the country; the International Organization for Migration “estimate that there are 700,000 to one million migrants in Libya, and more than 2,000 have died at sea this year,” Youssef of the New York Times said.
According to CNN journalists, Elbagir, Razek, Platt, and Jones, the mass influx of Libyan individuals to the coast in an attempt to escape persecution, armed conflict and other economic hardships have also brought light to the problems experienced on this journey.
Detention camps are set up on the coast for migrants before they engage in the dangerous boat rides across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. However, the majority of these centers are run by smugglers who are reported to torture, sexually abuse, and overwork the people staying there in hopes to sail to freedom, Ishaan Tharoor of the Washington Post reports.
The filmed evidence of the auctions of migrants stuck on the coast in various camps is now with “Libyan authorities, who have promised to launch an investigation,” Nima Elbagir, Raja Razek, Alex Platt and Bryony Jones of CNN state.
According to the United Nations’ website, the International Organization for Migration is now “working with partners, including the Government of Libya, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the African Union, the European Union, and countries of origin, to forge an agreement to implement a programme to empty those detention centres” as they have called the exploitation of these migrants “dehumanizing.”
The crisis is being handled by multiple departments worldwide, and will hopefully be resolved through the help of European assistance in taking refugees in as well as the Libyan government creating more stability for its people.
Works Cited:
Elbagir, Nima, et al. “Libya Slave Trade.” CNN, Cable News Network, 28 Nov. 2017
Tharoor, Ishaan. “A ‘Slave Auction’ Puts the Global Spotlight Back on Libya.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 29 Nov. 2017
“UN Working to Address Slavery, Abuses against African Migrants and Refugees, Security Council Told.” UN News Center, United Nations, 28 Nov. 2017
Youssef, Nour. “Sale of Migrants as Slaves in Libya Causes Outrage in Africa and Paris.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Nov. 2017