A Crime Against Humanity: The Libyan Slave Trade

You may have heard about something going on in Libya recently. What exactly is happening, you are unsure of. This is because this issue has been largely ignored after the few protests that occurred a few months ago. The Libyan Slave trade has not been highlighted in national news the way it would have been had it been a western country’s citizens exhorted for labour. 

Libya is the main transit point for refugees attempting to seek asylum in Europe by sea travel. During the last few years, nearly 155, 000 people have crossed the perilous path across the Mediterranean Sea. With estimates nearing one million people trapped in lawless Libya, reports of robbery, murder, and rape have skyrocketed. These migrants are being constantly sold as labourers. 

The individuals are treated like inanimate objects, labelled as commodities to be bought and discarded at the convenience of the pompous owner. 

Libya has been undoubtedly beseeched by turmoil since the long serving ruler Col Muhammad Gaffadi was bereaved in 2011, and has since been largely considered a failed state.

In this lawless land, the slave trade is viewed as a worthwhile endeavor. Undertaking the responsibility of discontinuing these inhumane practices. Tackling the country’s humanitarian crisis will require international assistance, and as we have seen, or rather not seen, the rest of the world turns a blind eye to most non  western issues. Some may argue that the U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting and said it would be to stop the abuses. However, the U.N refugee agency said it faces “dramatic” funding gaps, especially for its operations in sub-Saharan Africa.  

This is evidently a crime against humanity.  U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley condemned the abuses, saying: “To see the pictures of these men being treated like cattle, and to hear the auctioneer describe them as, quote, ‘big strong boys for farm work,’ should shock the conscience of us all.”

“There are few greater violations of human rights and human dignity than this.”

It’s a result of European immigration policy—that we know. However, many are ignoring the other end of it; the pervasive anti-blackness in the MENA region. policy concentrates human suffering across the globe—and looking at individual traumas, in turn, can help us realize the consequences of policy. To date, asylum seekers’ best hope for rescue lies with the humanitarian vessels patrolling the Mediterranean. For four years, the anti-immigrant sentiment has been sweeping across the majority of Europe.