Ottawa, Canada | AFP | Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday urged the international community to “do more” following reports of the “abhorrent and despicable” enslavement of vulnerable African refugees arriving in Libya. “Canada will not stay silent in the face of such inhumane atrocities,” Trudeau said in a statement …
Read More »EU working without ‘letup’ to help migrants in Libya
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 …
Read More »Italy says 1,100 migrants rescued from sea in one day
Rome, Italy | AFP | About 1,100 migrants from the Libyan coast were rescued from the sea on Wednesday, including a woman who gave birth in a rubber boat, the Italian coastguard and monitors said. They were recovered from 10 rubber boats and a small wooden boat in a rescue …
Read More »Macron calls Libya slave sales ‘crimes against humanity’
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 …
Read More »France calls UN Security Council meeting over Libya slavery
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 …
Read More »Libya slave auctions may be crime against humanity: UN chief
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 …
Read More »France to take in refugees rescued from Libya by UN
Paris, France | AFP | France will be the first to welcome African refugees evacuated from Libya to NIger by the United Nations refugee agency, French officials announced Monday. After experiencing appalling living conditions at camps in the north African country, the refugees were taken to Niger on November 11 by …
Read More »Libya says to probe ‘slave auction’ footage
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 …
Read More »European, African ministers vow to better protect migrants
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 …
Read More »UN begins evacuating refugees from Libya to Niger
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. …
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