Migrants and refugees stuck in Libya are being sold into slavery, CNN reported earlier this month.

The combination of Libya’s splintered government in the wake of Muammar Gaddafi’s fall and the influx of people from Nigeria has led to a situation where stranded men and women are being held against their will and, in some cases, sold into slavery or prostitution.

“As shocking as it seems, it’s indeed true. The reason [the slave trade] can happen is because there is really no rule of law across much of Libya,” Leonard Doyle of the International Organization of Migration told Al Jazeera.

Each year for the past three years, more than 150,000 migrants and refugees have crossed into Europe from Libya in hopes of making their way to a new life. It’s a treacherous journey. More than 3,000 people have drowned each of the past four years trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea.

Recently, with help from Italy, the Libyan coast guard has been capturing vessels smuggling people into Europe. It’s estimated that between 400,000 and 1 million migrants may now be trapped in Libya, where the vulnerable population is preyed upon by smugglers and other criminal elements who rob, rape, and murder them.

“We cannot even guess the scale of the abuses inflicted on migrants in all these hidden places, untouched by the rule of law,” U.N. human rights commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al Huseein said in a September statement. “The situation of migrants crossing Libya was appalling during Gaddafi’s era, but it has become diabolical since.”

Who is buying slaves in Libya?

Smugglers who are now unable to get the people — who have often sold all their possessions in order to pay their way — into Europe are holding them against their will. When warehouses overflow or migrants run out of money to pay the smugglers, some are sold into slavery.

CNN recorded footage of men being sold for $400 as farm laborers at a nighttime auction in Libya. This reporting sparked global outrage and international organizations are now making an effort to investigate the situation and provide transportation for stranded migrants.

On Wednesday, nearly 250 Nigerian migrants returned to their home country. Officials from Nigeria have been working with the International Organization of Migration and told CNN that a total of 5,000 Nigerians have come back from Libya in the past year.

Who is Samuel Eto’o?

As more outlets have started covering the slave trade in Libya, various celebrities have drawn attention to the issue. One professional soccer player’s name has come up often in connection with the coverage.

Samuel Eto’o is a former professional soccer player — a striker for Chelsea, Inter Milan and Barcelona — from Cameroon who was recently rumored to have chartered a plane to fly migrants out of Libya and back to their home nation.

He denied these claims Wednesday, but called for his countrymen to “use this time to prevent other brothers from being deprived of their dignity.”

Many other celebrities and public figures have spoken out against the slavery in Libya including civil rights activist Al Sharpton, actress Tessa Thompson, and artists Common and Pharrell Williams.

President Donald Trump on Libya

While President Donald Trump has not commented specifically on the reports out of Libya, he did tweet about CNN International spreading “fake news” after a story about the slave trade there was published.

Libyan media seized this statement and used it to try to discredit CNN’s reporting about the slave trade in the country.

“Here the possibility arises that the channel has published the report of slavery in Libya to secure an as yet hidden political objective,” a Libyan broadcaster said, adding it was striking that the president’s comments came just a day after the report.

How to Help

There are a few ways to help stop the slave trade in Libya, as Bustle pointed out in a much-applauded post, and raise awareness about the 40 million people enslavedworldwide.

Supporting the International Organization for Migration, which is working in Libya, helps them protect migrants in the country. Donating to global anti-slavery organizations, like Free the Slaves, End Slavery Now, and the Polaris Project also helps those working to end slavery around the world.

People wanted to help can also advocate for a thorough investigation in Libya by the United Nations, and call on U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley to push for strong and swift action to combat the issue.

Supporting organizations like the United Nations Refugee Agency, the World Food Program, Oxfam, Save The Children, and Medecins Sans Frontieres that fight the root causes of slavery, such as extreme poverty and displacement, helps refugees and other vulnerable populations.

It has also been suggested that people wanting to help stop the slave trade in Libya should hold corporations accountable. It’s been reported that Facebook, for instance, was reportedly used by smugglers to broadcast videos of migrants held against their will. There’s another side to that coin: People wanted to help can seek out companies that combat slave labor in the supply chain.

CNN本月初报道，滞留在利比亚的移民和难民正被卖作奴隶。

穆阿迈尔·卡扎菲倒台后利比亚政府陷入分裂，再加上尼日利亚人的涌入，导致困在利比亚的人员遭强行扣留，某些情况下会被卖作奴隶或娼妓。

国际移民组织发言人伦纳德·道尔对半岛电视台表示：“这似乎骇人听闻，但千真万确。出现[奴隶贸易]的原因是利比亚很大一片地区实际上都不受法律管辖。”

过去三年中，每年都有超过15万移民和难民穿过利比亚前往欧洲，希望藉此开始新生活。这条路线危险重重。四年来，每年都有逾3000人葬身地中海。

最近，在意大利方面帮助下，利比亚海岸警卫队一直在拦截前往欧洲的偷渡船。据估计，现在可能有40-100万移民困在利比亚，这些无力自保的民众成了走私犯和其他犯罪分子的“猎物”，被抢劫、强奸和杀害。

联合国人权事务高级专员扎伊德•拉阿德•阿尔·侯赛因今年9月发表声明称：“在这些法律无法触及的隐匿角落，我们甚至无法猜到移民遭受暴行的程度。在卡扎菲时代，整个利比亚的移民情况就很差，他倒台后的局面更是糟糕透顶。”

谁在利比亚买奴隶？

目前无法把人送到欧洲去的走私犯强行扣留了这些移民，后者往往倾家荡产来买一条出路。在仓库超员或者移民再也没钱给走私犯时，有些就被卖作了奴隶。

在CNN播放的录像中，一名男子在利比亚夜间的“拍卖”中以400美元的价格被卖到农场做工。这次报道激起了全世界的愤慨，国际组织现在正在设法调查这一问题，并设法转移滞留移民。

上周三，近250名尼日利亚移民返回了祖国。尼日利亚官员一直在跟国际移民组织合作，他们告诉CNN，去年共有5000名尼日利亚人从利比亚返回家园。

谁是萨穆埃尔·埃托奥？

随着报道利比亚奴隶交易的新闻机构增多，此事引起了多位知名人士的关注。相关报道经常会提到一位职业足球运动员的名字。

喀麦隆前足球运动员萨穆埃尔·埃托奥曾在切尔西、国际米兰和巴塞罗那司职前锋。最近有传闻说，他包下了一架飞机，用于把移民从利比亚送回他们祖国。

埃托奥上周三否认了此事，但同时呼吁他的同胞“现在就行动起来，防止其他兄弟被剥夺他们应有的尊严”。

还有许多名人和公众人物对利比亚的奴隶交易表示谴责，其中包括民权活动家阿尔·夏普顿、女演员泰莎·汤普森以及流行歌手Common和法瑞尔·威廉姆斯。

唐纳德·特朗普总统怎么说

虽然美国总统唐纳德·特朗普未针对有关利比亚的报道发表评论，但在CNN就奴隶贸易做出报道后，他确实在推特上表示CNN International散布“假新闻”。

利比亚媒体紧抓这句话不放，并用它来斥责CNN关于利比亚奴隶交易的报道“很丢人”。

一位利比亚主持人说：“CNN报道利比亚出现奴隶交易的消息，很可能是为了达到不可告人的政治目的。”这位主持人还说，报道出现仅一天后特朗普就发表了上述评论，这着实引人关注。

怎么帮忙

正如Bustle.com上的一篇贴子所说，阻止利比亚的奴隶买卖有几种方法。该贴得到许多人点赞，也让更多人意识到世界上约有4000万人正在遭受奴役。

支持正在利比亚开展工作的国际移民组织，帮他们保护在利移民。向Free the Slaves、End Slavery Now以及Polaris Project捐款也能帮助那些在全球范围内致力于终结奴隶制度的人。

想助一臂之力的人还可以呼吁联合国在利比亚进行彻底调查，同时敦促美国驻联合国大使妮基・海莉推动联合国迅速采取有力措施来解决这个问题。

支持联合国难民署、联合国世界粮食计划署、乐施会、救助儿童会和无国界医生组织等机构，它们正在从诸如“极度贫穷和流离失所”等根源上，来消除奴隶制度，并为难民和其他弱势群体提供帮助。

另一项建议是，如果希望帮助制止利比亚的奴隶交易，就应该让企业负起责任。举例来说，有报道称，走私犯据说在Fackbook上散布遭强行扣留的移民的影像。这倒成了一个渠道——想为此出力的人可以去寻找那些与供应链奴隶劳工现象作斗争的公司。（财富中文网）

译者：Charlie

审校：夏林