NEWS
EVENTS
Post Anti-Slavery March- What next?
On Saturday 9th December, protestors took to the streets of London, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Glasgow to march against the enslavement of African migrants and refugees in Libya.
Harrowing footage obtained by CNN showed African migrants trying to get to Europe via Libya being put up for sale to the highest bidder and being kept under inhumane conditions. They were, very sadly, clearly referred to as “merchandise” and “big strong boys for farm work” in the footage.
In response to the unsettling footage going viral, a large group of protestors, including several UK celebrities and well known musicians, gathered outside the Libyan Embassy, which as seen in the video below was closed on the day. Libya has been in a state of chaos ever since the killing of Gaddafi as authorised by Obama and celebrated by Hilary Clinton in 2011. The resulting instability within the country has since led to an ongoing civil war that has taken many lives as well as the recently reported slave trade.
The 'civilised' western world and its journalists have a responsibility as decent human beings to keep on reporting, to keep putting pressure on our governments to act against these sorts of terrible occurence every week, not just on a Saturday when everyone’s off work and can conveniently march. Until organisations like the UN and EU start to listen and act to end this pre-historic barbarism, the pressure needs to be constant.
In the meantime, the UK awaits for Parliment's decision on the petition calling on the UK government to add pressure on Libya to put an end to its slave trade. The final ruling will be made on the 18th of December.
