Hundreds of protesters marching against slavery in Libya chanting “shame on Libya” gathered outside the Libyan embassy in Knightsbridge, London on Saturday, 9th December, 2017.
The Anti-slavery March was organised by Africanlivesmatter.org, An ongoing influx of migrants trafficked from various parts of sub Saharan Africa trying to cross over to Europe are captured by Libyan gangs and kept in concentration camps to be sold as slaves, while the women are subjected to prostitution. It has been rumoured that Libyans have also been harvesting organs from migrants to be sold on the black market.
Statistics show that in the last three to four years over 150,000 migrant refugees fleeing war and poverty in their own countries have risked their lives trying to cross the Mediterranean into Europe seeking a better life, while Over 3,000 people lost their lives through drowning.
According to Amnesty International, European governments are knowingly complicit in the torture and abuse of tens of thousands of refugees and migrants detained by Libyan immigration authorities in appalling conditions in Libya.
The Nigerian Ambassador to the UK H. E. Goerge Oguntade said the Libyan situation is a serious problem which one country alone cannot solve, that it would take a combination of joint efforts from the different countries from where the migrants are from to stem the situation.
António Guterres said, “I am horrified at news reports and video footages, showing African migrants in Libya being sold as slaves. I call upon all competent authorities to investigate these activities without delay and to bring the perpetrators to justice. I have asked the relevant United Nations actors to actively pursue this matter”.
“Slavery has no place in our world and these actions are among the most egregious abuses of human rights.
I urge every nation to adopt and apply the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime and its protocol on trafficking in persons and I urge the international community to unite in fighting this scourge.”
The world must stand together to fight against the modern day slavery going on in Libya. The Libyan situation as a matter of urgency needs a combined forces of the EU, the UN along with African Union to bring this horrific nightmare to humanity to a swift end.
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