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"Eight hundred," says the auctioneer. "900 ... 1,000 ... 1,100 ..." Sold. For 1,200 Libyan dinars -- the equivalent of $800.
Not a used car, a piece of land, or an item of furniture. Not "merchandise" at all, but two human beings.
Victory, 21-year-old Nigerian migrant speaking to CNN siad he was sold at Lybia slave auction market. Victory tired of the rampant corruption in Nigeria’s Edo state, fled home and spent a year and four months — and his life savings — trying to reach Europe.
African migrants from nations including Guinea and Senegal but also Mali, Niger, Nigeria and The Gambia make the dangerous crossing through the Sahara to Libya with hopes of making it over the Mediterranean Sea to Italy.
The Libyan government is to investigate allegations that African migrants are being sold as slaves at auctions.
Tens of thousands of migrants, many of them from West Africa but also Bangladesh, Somalia, Sudan and Eritrea, are being held in camps and warehouses on the Libyan coast, hoping to reach Europe.
When the warehouses become overcrowded, or if migrants are unable to pay traffickers for the boat journey towards Italy – where many are rescued by NGO-operated vessels – they are sold.
The existence of modern-day slave markets has been known for months, with testimony from the International Organisation for Migration and other humanitarian agencies, but last week CNN obtained video footage of one such auction.
The CNN footage showed buyers bidding for the migrants, who were sold off for as little as $400 each. One West African man told the television network: “Sure, I was sold”. Others recounted how they were beaten by their “owners” as they put to work.
Read full report
Not a used car, a piece of land, or an item of furniture. Not "merchandise" at all, but two human beings.
Victory, 21-year-old Nigerian migrant speaking to CNN siad he was sold at Lybia slave auction market. Victory tired of the rampant corruption in Nigeria’s Edo state, fled home and spent a year and four months — and his life savings — trying to reach Europe.
African migrants from nations including Guinea and Senegal but also Mali, Niger, Nigeria and The Gambia make the dangerous crossing through the Sahara to Libya with hopes of making it over the Mediterranean Sea to Italy.
The Libyan government is to investigate allegations that African migrants are being sold as slaves at auctions.
Tens of thousands of migrants, many of them from West Africa but also Bangladesh, Somalia, Sudan and Eritrea, are being held in camps and warehouses on the Libyan coast, hoping to reach Europe.
When the warehouses become overcrowded, or if migrants are unable to pay traffickers for the boat journey towards Italy – where many are rescued by NGO-operated vessels – they are sold.
The existence of modern-day slave markets has been known for months, with testimony from the International Organisation for Migration and other humanitarian agencies, but last week CNN obtained video footage of one such auction.
The CNN footage showed buyers bidding for the migrants, who were sold off for as little as $400 each. One West African man told the television network: “Sure, I was sold”. Others recounted how they were beaten by their “owners” as they put to work.
Read full report
