Modern Day Slavery In Libya

The United Nations migration agency, the International Organization for Migration, has reported this week that horrific modern-day slavery is taking place in Libya. Libya is the main transit hub for refugees and migrants who are attempting to make the dangerous crossing from Africa to Europe via the Mediterranean Sea. The IOM reports that vulnerable and desperate migrants are becoming unwillingly involved in human trafficking, as they are being kidnapped then bought and sold in modern slave markets.

These slave markets are housed in non-descript buildings such as garages, car parks and farms and are increasingly commonplace. According to the IOM the trade in humans is becoming so normalized that people are being purchased for as little as $200 to $500 and are held in slavery for two to three months. Those who are purchased in slave markets are often held for ransom or used as forced labour or for sexual exploitation. Lenard Doyle a representative for IOM said, “Modern-day slavery is widespread around the world and Libya is by no means unique. It’s happening in the developed countries of the world as well as the undeveloped counties. But what’s particularly shocking is that this is happening effectively in the open, where people can go to a farm house, place a bid and end up ‘owning’ a human being.”

As Libya is the main transit hub for migrants attempting to reach Europe, there are people from a number of African countries who are becoming enslaved. Nigeria, Eritrea, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Senegal, Sudan and Somalia all contribute large numbers of people to the migration crisis as the people from these countries are attempting to flee war, poverty or persecution. Mahmoud Abelwahed a representative of a detention centre for migrants in Tripoli said “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.”

The conditions in Libya have come together to create the perfect environment for human slavery to flourish. The head of the IOM for Libya Othman Belbeisi said “Migrants are being sold in the market as a commodity. Selling human beings is becoming a trend among smugglers as the smuggling networks in Libya are becoming stronger and stronger.” The fall of Muammar Gaddafi led to a power vacuum in the country while the European Union’s renewed strategy to stop migrants and refugees from reaching European soil via the Mediterranean has lead to more and more people being trapped in Libya with no feasible escape and no money or food. This desperation has lead to migrants becoming increasingly vulnerable to human traffickers.

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