Libya to examine slave trading claims
Print Edition
Libya will investigate alleged slave trading in the country, its internationally recognised government said yesterday.
The move follows the release of video footage appearing to show migrants being auctioned off.
Libya has long been a major transit centre for migrants trying to reach Europe, and many of them have fallen prey to serious abuse in the North African country at the hands of traffickers and others.
US television network CNN broadcast the footage last week of an apparent live auction in Libya where black men were presented to North African buyers as potential farmhands and sold for as little as US$400.
Ahmed Metig, Libya’s deputy prime minister, said his UN-backed Government of National Accord would investigate the allegations.
Metig said he would order the formation of a “commission to investigate these reports in order to apprehend and bring those responsible to justice.”
Libya’s foreign ministry said: “If these allegations are confirmed, all implicated persons will be punished.”
The CNN report was shared widely on social media, sparking international anger.
The grainy footage shot on a mobile phone shows a man CNN said was Nigerian and in his 20s being offered for sale as part of a group of “big strong boys for farm work”.
In the CNN report, a person identified as an auctioneer could be heard saying “800... 900... 1,000... 1,100...” before two men were sold for 1,200 Libyan dinars (US$875).
About 1,000 people took to the streets of Paris on Saturday to protest against slavery in Libya, said French police. That led to clashes between demonstrators and security forces.
African migrants from nations — including Guinea, Senegal and Mali — make the dangerous crossing through the Sahara to Libya with hopes of making it over the Mediterranean Sea to Italy.
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