Libya to probe clip of ‘slave auction’

TRIPOLI: Libya will investigate alleged slave trading in the country, the internationally recognised government announced on Sunday, following the release of video footage appearing to show migrants being auctioned off.

Chaos-ridden Libya has long been a transit hub for migrants trying to reach Europe, and many of them have fallen prey to serious abuse at the hands of traffickers and others.

CNN aired the footage last week of an apparent live auction in Libya where black men are presented to North African buyers as potential farmhands and sold off for as little as US$400 (RM1,660).

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Metig said his UNbacked Government of National Accord would investigate the allegations, in a statement posted on Sunday on its Facebook page.

Metig said he would instruct the formation of a “commission to investigate these reports in order to apprehend and bring those responsible to justice”, the statement added.

The foreign ministry in a statement added: “If these allegations are confirmed, all implicated persons will be punished.”

The CNN report apparently showing migrants being auctioned off in Libya was shared widely on social media, provoking outrage worldwide.

The grainy footage shot on a mobile phone shows a man CNN said was Nigerian and in his 20s being offered up for sale as part of a group of “big strong boys for farm work”.

In the CNN report, a person identified as an auctioneer can be heard saying “800 ... 900 ... 1,000 ... 1,100 ...” before two men are sold for 1,200 Libyan dinars.

Around 1,000 people took to the streets of Paris on Saturday to protest against slavery in Libya, French police said.

The gathering led to clashes between demonstrators and security forces.

Guinean President Alpha Conde, who is also chairman of the African Union, on Friday called for an inquiry and prosecutions relating to what he termed a “despicable trade ... from another era”.

Senegal’s government expressed “outrage at the sale of Sub-Saharan African migrants on Libyan soil” that constituted a “blight on the conscience of humanity”.

Niger’s leader Mahamadou Issoufou said the issue had made him “deeply angry” and urged Libyan authorities and international organisations to do “everything possible to stop this practice”. – AFP