Alarm sounded over ‘slave markets’

HUNDREDS of refugees along North African migrant routes are being bought and sold openly in modern-day “slave markets” in Libya, survivors have told the UN migration agency.

The International Organisation for Migration sounded the alarm on Tuesday after its staff in Niger and Libya documented over the past weekend shocking testimonies of trafficked victims from Nigeria, Ghana and the Gambia.

They described “slave markets” in which hundreds of young African men bound for Libya are traded.

Operations officers with the International Organisation for Migration’s office in Niger reported the rescue of a Senegalese migrant who was returning home after being held captive. According to the young man’s testimony, while trying to travel through the Sahara, he arrived in Agadez, Niger, where he was told he would have to pay $320 (R4 389) to continue towards Libya.

When his pick-up reached Sabha the driver insisted that he had not been paid. He then transported the refugees to a parking area where the young man saw a slave market taking place. – ANA