The African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union
Confederation (ITUC-Africa) expresses its alarm over the recent revelations of the
heinous trade in slavery of African migrants in open markets in Libya reminiscent
of the trade in human cargo across the Sahara and the Atlantic Ocean centuries
ago. The recent doings follow in the wake of the inhuman treatment that many
migrants have received in the past in Libya and other places.
ITUC-Africa joins in the condemnation of this modern slavery in the strongest
terms. We join the African Union (AU) in calling on the Libyan government to
ensure that this reported development is thoroughly investigated, the perpetrators
effectively prosecuted and sanctioned.
We demand respect for the rights of migrants and their security and request that
the victims of this human indignity be effectively assisted with rehabilitation.
Importantly, we ask that the international community commit more genuinely to
an effective and inclusive process that will engender political stability and security
in Libya and elsewhere threatened by destabilization and lawlessness that provide
room for heinous acts such as these.
We also call on the international community to use the opportunity of the on-going
United Nations’ Global Compact on Migration (GCM) process to ensure that acts
such as these are effectively reined in and that the human rights of migrants and
refugees are guaranteed and secured at all times and in all places.
Kwasi Adu-Amankwah
General Secretary, ITUC-Africa.
