Enslavement of Black Africans (Libya)

Marsha De Cordova Excerpts

Monday 18th December 2017 Westminster Hall

[Marsha De Cordova (Battersea) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to speak under your chairmanship, Mr Walker. I pay tribute to every single individual who has signed the petition. It is also a pleasure to speak in the same debate as my hon. Friends the Members for West Ham (Lyn Brown) and for Wolverhampton South West (Eleanor Smith).

The recent news coverage of slavery in Libya and the slow and steady stream of harrowing footage emerging from the region, including cameraphone images, have shocked many of us. I have been contacted by a number of my constituents, many of whom identify as being from the African diaspora, who are outraged at what is going on. This is modern-day chattel slavery, and a window into practices that form part of a particularly traumatic collective memory for many communities. That human beings are again going through such horrific violence and injustice in 2017 is deeply concerning.

There has been an international spotlight on these practices since CNN broadcast its footage, but the reality is that they are not new. As more and more migrants make their way towards the Mediterranean, criminal elements have sought to exploit vulnerable migrants. That is of course not unique to north Africa. The trafficking of migrant women and children takes place in Europe as well as on the shores of Libya, but what Libya shows is how such wickedness and criminality can grow amid political turmoil.

The conditions that lead to migrants being exploited will not go away any time soon. Demographic changes on the African continent and climate change will see more and more migrants looking for opportunities in Europe. Just as “Fortress Europe” relied on Gaddafi to detain migrants, we now see a complex partnership between the EU and the Libyan authorities that seems to prioritise protecting European borders over the human rights of refugees and migrants.

Amnesty International has made some key demands to end these practices—demands that I support. I hope that the Government act on them and support Amnesty in its approach to the crisis. First, there is a clear demand by Governments that the arbitrary detention of refugees and migrants in Libya arbitrary. The second demand is that international partners work together to investigate all allegations of torture and other ill treatment of refugees and migrants in Libya, and to ensure that the suspected perpetrators are prosecuted in a transparent and fair trial to put an end to the vicious cycle of abuse. The other demands are for EU states to review how they co-operate on migration policies; to prioritise protecting the human rights of refugees and migrants instead of trapping people in Libya; and to recognise formally the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and allow the organisation to carry out its full mandate, including the protection of asylum seekers and refugees.

The stories and images from Libya are shameful, and I hope that the Government act to end these practices. In the words of my hon. Friend the Member for West Ham, African lives matter.