Libyan Slave Markets Create Diplomatic Storm In Africa, UN Security Council To Meet

Anti-slavery protests continued across various world capitals this week, especially in countries across Africa, after earlier protests in France got violent when police used tear gas and other riot control tactics on a crowed of more than one thousand outside of the Libyan embassy in Paris. The protests are in response to last week’s widespread reports of slave markets operating in various cities across Libya, and look to continue as according to Reuters a major rally is set to take place in London later this week.

Meanwhile France on Wednesday called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over the revelations, with President Macron referencing recent footage proving the existence of a slave trade network in Libya as “scandalous” and “unacceptable”.

According to a CNN investigation, which included video footage of one slave auction in progress, migrant African workers are being sold for as little as $400 in at least nine different Libyan cities, though it’s believed the network of slave auctions extends more broadly, including to locations under the UN-backed Government of National Accord based in Tripoli. 

Other investigations by international rights groups such as the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) have further found that many migrants trying to reach Europe from Libya are routinely “detained, tortured, and even killed.” This also no doubt includes large numbers of internal refugees from Libya’s recent “summer of mass displacement” due to dozens of militias as well as multiple regional governments vying for territory and power. Libya has recently been described by the European Council On Foreign Relations as “one country, three governments.”