Enslavement of Black Africans (Libya) Debate
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Eleanor Smith
Main Page: Eleanor Smith (Labour - Wolverhampton South West)Department Debates - View all Eleanor Smith's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Enslavement of Black Africans (Libya)
Eleanor Smith Excerpts(7 years ago)
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Eleanor Smith (Wolverhampton South West) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Walker. I want to thank the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully) for introducing the debate and the 265,272 members of the public who signed the petition, who include 663 people from my constituency.
I was disturbed to see in November’s CNN footage that two black men were being sold as slaves—I could not believe that that was happening in this day and age, in the 21st century. As black descendants of slaves, we thought that that had been abolished. The footage showed a detention centre where rescued and escaped slaves were staying, and a young man explained his story. I am aware that the Minister has raised concerns with the Libyan Government about the human rights situation in Libya, but how can we be sure that the Libyan Government will do something about it given that they are struggling to establish their own authority?
Afzal Khan (Manchester, Gorton) (Lab)
I have been listening to the debate, and I thank the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully) for introducing it. What we have seen is shocking and horrific. At the heart of it is what is happening in Libya. Where we are now is due to poor planning. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Minister needs to do a lot more to help stabilise the situation in Libya? In our various institutions we have a lot of expertise—and we have a special duty, in the light of the role we have played in Libya being where it is.
The other issue is that our friends in the middle east are playing around with their rivalries, and innocent people are paying the price. Again, we should be using our influence to tell them to stop playing rivalry games in Libya. We need to see more stability in Libya and to stop what is happening.
Eleanor Smith
I totally agree. That was not in my speech, so I am glad my hon. Friend added it.
Although the Prime Minister has made tackling modern slavery a foreign policy priority, my question to the Government is: how will they actively tackle human trafficking and modern day slavery in Libya?