Tag Archives: Europe

Tripoli, Libya | AFP | Italy and Libya will set up a joint commission in a bid to fight back against people traffickers and tackle the problem of illegal migration, the Tripoli government said Saturday. The announcement was made after talks in the Libyan capital between Italian Interior Minister Marco …

Accra, Ghana | AFP | Ghana’s president, Nana Akufo-Addo, has criticised Libya over migrant slave markets, saying the abuses call into question wider African unity. A furore over the auctions is expected to dominate discussions between African Union and European Union at a two-day summit starting Wednesday in Ivory Coast’s …

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. …