MODERN SLAVERY IN LIBYA: A HORRIFIC EXPERIENCE
African refugees have long used Libya as gateway to Europe, but many are now
facing abuse, exploitation and trafficking. Libya's UN-backed government says it is investigating allegations that hundreds of African refugees and migrants passing through Libya are being bought and sold in modern-day slave markets .
According to reports, the trade works by preying on the tens of thousands of
vulnerable people who risk everything to get to Libya's coast and then a cross the Mediterranean into Europe - a route that's been described as the deadliest route on earth.
Libya is the main gateway for people attempting to reach Europe by sea, with
more than 150,000 people making the crossing in each of the past three years.
"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," says Mahmoud Abdelwahed, reporting from a detention centre in the Libyan capital Tripoli.
There is no proper registration process for the tens of thousands of refugees
arriving in Libya. The business of detention centres is unsupervised in some
parts of Libya and stories of torture, rape and forced labour have emerged.
When the centres get too crowded, people are then allegedly sold off like goods
in an open market.
Survivors have told the UN's migration agency that they use
smartphones to connect with people smugglers to get them to Libya's coast, and
that they were then sold, being held for ransom, used as forced labour or for
sexual exploitation. The International Organization for Migration says trade in humans has become so normalised that people are being bought and sold in public for as little as $400.
facing abuse, exploitation and trafficking. Libya's UN-backed government says it is investigating allegations that hundreds of African refugees and migrants passing through Libya are being bought and sold in modern-day slave markets .
According to reports, the trade works by preying on the tens of thousands of
vulnerable people who risk everything to get to Libya's coast and then a cross the Mediterranean into Europe - a route that's been described as the deadliest route on earth.
Libya is the main gateway for people attempting to reach Europe by sea, with
more than 150,000 people making the crossing in each of the past three years.
"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," says Mahmoud Abdelwahed, reporting from a detention centre in the Libyan capital Tripoli.
There is no proper registration process for the tens of thousands of refugees
arriving in Libya. The business of detention centres is unsupervised in some
parts of Libya and stories of torture, rape and forced labour have emerged.
When the centres get too crowded, people are then allegedly sold off like goods
in an open market.
Survivors have told the UN's migration agency that they use
smartphones to connect with people smugglers to get them to Libya's coast, and
that they were then sold, being held for ransom, used as forced labour or for
sexual exploitation. The International Organization for Migration says trade in humans has become so normalised that people are being bought and sold in public for as little as $400.
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