Thousands of migrants held as slaves in Libya

GENEVA: Nearly 9 000 mainly African migrants were rescued in the Mediterranean last weekend after being put by smugglers in Libya on to unseaworthy boats heading towards Italy, UN aid agencies said yesterday.

The migrants, many from Nigeria and Senegal with some from Bangladesh, are among an estimated 20 000 held by criminal gangs in irregular detention centres in Libya, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said.

On release, they pay to board the overcrowded boats, often just inflated rubber vessels, in the hope of starting a new life in Europe.

“It is obvious that better spring weather has encouraged smugglers to take people from their detention centres,” spokesperson Leonard Doyle told a news briefing in Geneva. “The smugglers have taken them to sea and pushed them out in the hope and belief they would be rescued.”

More than 35 vessels, including private charity boats, the EU border agency Frontex, the Italian and Libyan coast guards and 12 merchant ships were involved in rescuing dozens of vessels, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said. “This was an overwhelming search and rescue activity by all sides involved,” spokesperson Babar Baloch said. “We repeat our calls on Europe, on the governments, to be out there saving lives. NGOs have been a great help in terms of filling up that vacuum,” he added.

At least 900 migrants have died or have gone missing while attempting to reach Europe by sea this year, including 97 missing in the latest incidents between Thursday and Sunday, during which time 18 bodies were also found, Doyle said.

IOM reported earlier this month that growing numbers of African migrants passing through Libya are traded in “slave markets” before being held for ransom, forced labour or sexual exploitation. “There’s a full-on economy of trafficking or trading in migrants who end up in a gulag of exploitation,” Doyle said. – Reuters