Migrants Are Being Auctioned as Slaves in Libya, Protests Erupt in Paris and Africa

Last month, CNN’s Nima Elbagir and her crew went to Libya to investigate the authenticity of footage the network had obtained. In the video, an auctioneer is heard offering up a group of “big strong boys for farm work.” Although he remains off camera, the auctioneer’s hand is seen on a Nigerian man’s shoulder.

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For 1,200 Libyan dinars, which are equal to $800, two men were sold at what CNN found to be a slave auction. According to the exclusive report, the auctions erupted after the Libyan coastguard began to crackdown on the refugee migration through Libya to Europe. As a result, the smugglers that would usually serve as a transfer to the Mediterranean turned their business into slavery.

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The now-slave masters would then sell their would-be passengers (migrants and refugees) based on their different strengths. According to CNN, the footage that was gathered by the network has since been turned over to Libyan officials.

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The network spoke to some of the detained migrants, who disclosed the harsh conditions of their captivity. Some, who have fled from the living conditions of their homeland, have been deprived of food and abused by the smugglers. Many use most, if not all, of their life’s savings to travel to the new land, but their money does not stretch past Libya. That is where they are auctioned off as day laborers.

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After being resold repeatedly, many opt to return home to the conditions they were once trying to escape.

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Now, after CNN’s report, Libyan officials have launched a formal investigation into the auctions. The report has also sparked protest across Africa and central Paris.

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“Priorities of the investigation are not only to convict those responsible for these inhumane acts but also to identify the location of those who have been sold in order to bring them to safety and return them to their countries of origin,” Anes Alazabi of the Libyan government’s Anti-Illegal Immigration Agency said.