Tag Archives: Europe

Brussels, Belgium | AFP | The EU said Thursday it is working without “letup” for a durable solution to the plight of migrants in Libya, adding it shared French President Emmanuel Macron’s anger over slave markets there. The US network CNN triggered a wave of condemnation when it aired footage last …

Paris, France | AFP | French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday said that auctions of Africans as slaves in Libya, shown in footage broadcast by CNN, qualified as “crimes against humanity”. “France denounces this completely,” he said after meeting in Paris with African Union chief Alpha Conde, adding “we need …

Paris, France | AFP | France called Wednesday for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss slave-trading in Libya following video footage showing Africans being auctioned off in the war-torn country. “France decided this morning to ask for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council to …

Madrid, Spain | AFP | Spain on Tuesday defended holding in prison nearly 500 migrants who arrived in the country by boat. Following criticism by rights groups, the Spanish government said it was due to a lack of space at immigration detention centres. “We feel it is better that the migrants …

United Nations, United States | UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday he was horrified by video footage showing migrants being sold as slaves in Libya and that these auctions should be investigated as possible crimes against humanity. US television network CNN aired the footage last week of an apparent live …

Tripoli, Libya | AFP | Libya will investigate alleged slave trading in the country, the internationally recognised government announced Sunday, following the release of video footage appearing to show migrants being auctioned off. Chaos-ridden Libya has long been a major transit hub for migrants trying to reach Europe, and many …

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Ministers from 13 European and African countries on Monday pledged steps to ease the migrant crisis around the Mediterranean, vowing especially to improve conditions for migrants held in Libya. Interior ministers and other representatives from countries impacted by the ongoing wave of migration up through Africa …

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | A group of vulnerable refugees from several African countries, who had been stuck in war-ravaged Libya, have been evacuated to Niger, the UN said Sunday. The UN refugee agency said the evacuation of 25 “extremely vulnerable refugees” from Libya Saturday marked the first of its kind. …

Barcelona, Spain | AFP | Spanish authorities said they rescued over 250 migrants, including children, on Saturday who were making the perilous Mediterranean crossing to Europe. “We saved 251 people from five improvised vessels all in the Alboran Sea,” Spain’s maritime safety authorities said on Twitter, referring to the westernmost portion …

La Goulette, Tunisia | AFP | The number of illegal migrants leaving Libya for Europe has fallen by 20 percent so far in 2017, the European naval force charged with stopping people trafficking in the Mediterranean said Thursday. “We have seen a drop in the number of people leaving Libya for …