Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/959046
maltatoday WEDNESDAY 28 MARCH 2018 News 3 www.festivalsmalta.org Expanding your cultural horizons MASSIMO COSTA A number of MEPs have re- cently shone the spotlight on a shocking situation of human slave trading in Libya – with various reports coming from the country indicating that hundreds of refugees from Af- rica are being sold into slavery – and asked the Commission what it was doing to address the situation. Amongst the MEPs was La- bour MEP Miriam Dalli, who, reacting to reports that hun- dreds of Central African mi- grants were being tortured, abused and humiliated before being sold as slaves, asked how the Commission was respond- ing. Commission Vice-President Federica Mogherini earlier last week issued a joint answer to the MEPs' questions, saying that an EU joint high-level mis- sion was in Tripoli in February to urge Libyan authorities to improve conditions at deten- tion centres, and ultimately close them down. "Through a number of specif- ic actions, the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF) addresses the appalling con- ditions in which migrants are detained and provides support to the Libyan authorities to im- prove their capacities to man- age migration in a humane and dignified manner," she said. She acknowledged that the Commission was aware of the "dire situation faced by mi- grants in Libya and condemns all human rights and interna- tional humanitarian law viola- tions and abuses against refu- gees and migrants", and made reference to its commitment to work with the UN to "put an end to this scandalous situa- tion." Cypriot MEP Takis Had- jigeorgiou had also put pres- sure on the Commission, ask- ing it to specify since when it has been aware of the "atroci- ties" taking place in Libya, and what it intended to do so put an end to the crimes commit- ted against refugees, who were in a "living hell". "Hundreds of migrants are being held hostage and sub- jected daily to inhuman torture (electric shocks and mutilation) and rape by militias to persuade their families to send money. If the family does not have any money, they sell them" Spanish MEP José Ignacio Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra, French MEP Karima Delli and Portuguese MEP Nuno Mela posed similar questions to the Commission, asking what it was doing to prevent practices uncovered by a CNN docu- mentary, where migrants were being sold as slaves for little more than €300. In her reply, Mogherini had added that a Joint Communica- tion "Managing flows, saving lives" had "set out a comprehen- sive strategy to rapidly adopt ac- tions along the Central Mediter- ranean Route to help save lives, fight smuggling, improve the conditions of migrants and refu- gees, encourage return to the countries of origin, and overall, better manage migration." "The EU-UN-African Union Task Force, set up in the mar- gins of the EU-Africa Summit in November 2017, agreed to better coordinate efforts to save and protect lives along migration routes, notably in- side Libya," she highlighted. mcosta@mediatoday.com.mt MEPs raise concerns on migrant slave trade 'atrocities' in Libya Commission says EU mission in Tripoli urged Libyan authorities to improve detention centre conditions