NO TO SLAVERY IN LIBYA

In April 2017, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that along the North African migrant routes its staff discovered "slave markets" where hundreds of African young men are being tormented.

But following CNN's release of footage showing men being sold by an auctioneer for the equivalent of $800, there was finally international outrage. There were demonstrations in Paris, Stockholm and New York with slogans such as "Free our brothers!" and "Black people are not slaves!" The chairman of the African Union,   Guinean President Alpha Conde, demanded prosecutions for these crimes and Libya announced it was reportedly launching an investigation into the matter. 

But while the outrage has focused on the Libyan authorities, it has very much ignored the role the European Union has played in enabling such despicable abuse.

The EU has pushed to curb migration and tighten its borders, but it has not provided alternative safe and legal paths for migrants and refugees. This has inevitably led to more dangerous conditions for people already in transit countries such as Libya. Slavery, unfortunately, has been a direct consequence of that.

As the EU continues to pour millions of its taxpayers' money into security policies violating human rights transit countries, the death rate of migrants and refugees crossing the Mediterranean continues to increase. Between January and July of this year alone, approximately 2,000 people drowned at sea.

We are often told that tragedies can influence policy. We were told, for example, that the world was appalled by the image of three-year-old Alan Kurdi lying dead on a beach in Turkey. But since he drowned at sea not too far from Fortress Europe's border, hundreds of children have shared the same fate. Between January and September 2016, 600 children drowned .In the three months between December 2016 and February 2017,190 drowned. 

Instead of seeing a change towards something more rational and human in the policies of the EU, as the more optimistic among us hoped in 2015, we saw a worsening of an easily solvable problem. Now that 2017 has brought us evidence of slavery at Fortress Europe's borders, what can we expect in 2018?

SOURCE: NEWSGRID