A New Crisis In Libya: Slavery Of African Migrants

The year 2015 saw the peak of the migrant crisis which held the world’s attention as many news outlets outdid themselves in coverage of the travails of migrants from many different countries to what is  greener pastures . These migrants would leave their home country with long-term savings hoping to buy their way to a better life, with Libya being the launch pad to those pastures for many Africans. Two years later, such migration patterns are still going on and have even brought on an unforeseen consequence on the shores of Libya: modern day slave auctions.

CNN has coverage of the news in their exclusive report, People for Sale. Reporters went on ground in October after they were sent footage in August of an auction in action. These migrants- specifically Africans-  that were being sold were essentially stuck in Libya during their attempts to be smuggled across the Mediterranean to get to the shores of “prosperity” – Europe. What the reporters witnessed was rhetoric reminiscent of the infamous and all too familiar American Slave Trade: not only were the auctioneers referring to the migrants as property, they were in fact treating human beings as property in every sense of the word. The highest bidder would become the individual’s master, putting him to work for a specified period. In most instances, the timeframe is determined by the debt owed by the migrant to the smuggler. Once the debt is paid off through slaving, the migrant would then exit the repetition of being bartered off in slave markets and be free. Such freedom is not always even clear-cut, as one of the now-freed victims reported being held ransom by some smugglers that solicited money from the migrants family back home in exchange for his freedom. By the time the migrant is free, what is left is a psychologically scarred, destitute, and even at times physically injured individual that has no recourse but to try to take advantage of the Libyan government’s repatriation offers. Hundreds of individuals that may or may not have been caught up in the slave markets stay in harsh conditions at the detention camps, awaiting an opportunity to return home.

Reading such may lead one to wonder how exactly this happens, especially in this day in age where there are internationally-backed laws that seek to prevent another American Slavery era or Holocaust, amongst other slave-related parts of world history. Libya’s caustic political climate leaves it to be a hotbed for illicit black market activity, including smuggling migrants for a fee and now slave auctions. Secondly, when migrants arrive in Libya to be transported by their smuggler, they end up being at the mercy of their smuggler, especially when the time to smuggle is postponed (travel conditions, tighter security, risk of getting caught all factor into when a smuggle operation across the Mediterranean happens). The migrant is therefore helpless and has no choice but to work towards freedom. Since the time of the investigation, CNN has sent the report to Libya’s government, who have condemned such activity and have complied in investigation. The UN is considering imposing sanctions on persons involved. The international community is now alert to such an inhumane byproduct of the migrant crisis, with the hope that such attention puts an end to the auctions so that this history of slavery would stop repeating itself.

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