Migrant slave trade in Libya
Libya's eastern-based army on Monday accused the UN-backed government of migrant slave trade.
“The army command detected activities of organised crime, transporting and selling illegal immigrants from one gang to another, depending on the area of control of each gang,” the army said in a statement.
“These gangs transferred the slaves from the countries of their origin into Libya. They then worked together to smuggle the migrants into Europe,” said the statement.
“Local gangs legitimised by the Government of National Accord in western Libya, and other international gangs, are actively involved in horrific crimes against humanity by attacking migrants, violating their safety and health, and even selling their organs,” the statement added.
The army warned against the “continuation of such crimes,” calling on the international community to lift the ban on arming its forces to “increase their capabilities to confront international crime, which the army considers an anti-terrorism effort.”
CNN recently published a report of auctions in different parts of Libya, where stranded African migrants were sold as slaves for as little as US$400.
The Tripoli-based foreign ministry said that the government has launched an investigation into the report.
In the meanwhile, Burkina Faso has recalled its ambassador to Libya following reports that African migrants were being auctioned as slaves there, Reuters reports.
Burkina Faso's foreign minister Alpha Barry announced the decision by President Roch Marc Kabore in a Monday news conference.
“The President of Burkina Faso has decided to recall the ambassador to Tripoli, General Abraham Traore, for a consultation,” Barry said during a news conference.
He added that he had also “summoned the Libyan charge d'affairs in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou to express our indignation at these images that belong to other centuries, images of the slave trade”.
Next week African and European leaders will meet in the Ivory Coast capital Abidjan to discuss migration and European efforts to deal with the matter in cooperation with Libya.
The North African country has long been a point of departure for tens of thousands of desperate refugees trying to reach Europe in search of a better life.
In a bid to stem the tide of refugees, the Italian and Libyan coast guards have joined efforts to prevent the refugees from reaching Europe.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein explained last month that the European and African deal to stem the flow of migrants coming through Libya to Europe had failed to tackle the severe abuses they face, including rape, torture and beatings.
A study of mixed refugee and migrant flows by the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, found that around half of those travelling to Libya do so believing they can find jobs there, but end up fleeing onwards to Europe to escape life-threatening insecurity, instability, difficult economic conditions plus widespread exploitation and abuse.
NAMPA/XINHUA/ANA
“The army command detected activities of organised crime, transporting and selling illegal immigrants from one gang to another, depending on the area of control of each gang,” the army said in a statement.
“These gangs transferred the slaves from the countries of their origin into Libya. They then worked together to smuggle the migrants into Europe,” said the statement.
“Local gangs legitimised by the Government of National Accord in western Libya, and other international gangs, are actively involved in horrific crimes against humanity by attacking migrants, violating their safety and health, and even selling their organs,” the statement added.
The army warned against the “continuation of such crimes,” calling on the international community to lift the ban on arming its forces to “increase their capabilities to confront international crime, which the army considers an anti-terrorism effort.”
CNN recently published a report of auctions in different parts of Libya, where stranded African migrants were sold as slaves for as little as US$400.
The Tripoli-based foreign ministry said that the government has launched an investigation into the report.
In the meanwhile, Burkina Faso has recalled its ambassador to Libya following reports that African migrants were being auctioned as slaves there, Reuters reports.
Burkina Faso's foreign minister Alpha Barry announced the decision by President Roch Marc Kabore in a Monday news conference.
“The President of Burkina Faso has decided to recall the ambassador to Tripoli, General Abraham Traore, for a consultation,” Barry said during a news conference.
He added that he had also “summoned the Libyan charge d'affairs in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou to express our indignation at these images that belong to other centuries, images of the slave trade”.
Next week African and European leaders will meet in the Ivory Coast capital Abidjan to discuss migration and European efforts to deal with the matter in cooperation with Libya.
The North African country has long been a point of departure for tens of thousands of desperate refugees trying to reach Europe in search of a better life.
In a bid to stem the tide of refugees, the Italian and Libyan coast guards have joined efforts to prevent the refugees from reaching Europe.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein explained last month that the European and African deal to stem the flow of migrants coming through Libya to Europe had failed to tackle the severe abuses they face, including rape, torture and beatings.
A study of mixed refugee and migrant flows by the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, found that around half of those travelling to Libya do so believing they can find jobs there, but end up fleeing onwards to Europe to escape life-threatening insecurity, instability, difficult economic conditions plus widespread exploitation and abuse.
NAMPA/XINHUA/ANA
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