Libyan slaves
Over 100 years ago slavery was abolished worldwide yet, in 2017 footage of a slave auction was filmed in Libya with 2 human beings being sold at the equivalent of £560. They are treated as property with their individual characteristics being marketed as strengths. The video shows the auctioneer describing one group “big strong boys for farm work” as though they were merchandise.
With slaves being kept in warehouses and reportedly beaten and mutilated, then sold within minutes. These men weren’t enslaved overnight, they were created from the conditions that they lived in and a dream that they could do something better. Every year tens of thousands of refugees flee across the Libyan border with most selling everything they own to afford the journey. But, recently there has been a clampdown on the border which means fewer boats are making it out to sea, leaving the smugglers with an accumulation of would-be passengers on their hands.
Smugglers keep these migrants until they can make it to Europe or in the worse cases the warehouses become overcrowded or they can’t pay their smuggler anymore, resulting in them being sold as slaves. Another video shows migrants being kept in cage like conditions with over a thousand men living in a warehouse with all but one side closed off from the world and only a cage door to protect them from the elements. One thousand men are expected to live in this cage until they can finally make their way to Europe, with no place to bathe, little to eat and drink and only the floor to sleep on. It’s even harder to believe that these are the ones that are considered lucky. The ones that have been rescued from the warehouses that others are sold from.
One migrant describes how he was sold and explains that whilst they were being forced to work against your will their “masters” were beating and maltreating them, he also tells the journalists that many lost their lives there.
One official explains that though he has heard rumours of these auctions there is no evidence leaving them unable to do anything to help. In November, footage was delivered to the Libyan authorities and they promised to launch an investigation. And though investigations have begun with Nigerian authorities and Libyan authorities working together to speed up the process, reports also say that the “smuggling networks are becoming stronger, more organised and better equipped”.
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“There are few greater violations of human rights and human dignity than this.” We can't allow this to continue and need to make sure that this never happens again.