The world was shocked after a video appeared online showing men selling others for $400 in Libya.  The video, which surfaced in Nov. of 2017, depicted smugglers selling a dozen men outside the Libyan capital Tripoli.

“The Security Council expresses grave concern about reports of migrants being sold into slavery in Libya,” the Security Council said. The United Nations’ also called the actions “heinous abuses of human rights.”
The slave trade’s location of Libya is due to the large number of refugees and migrants that travel through Libya in their attempts to make it to Europe. According to TIME Magazine, 150,000 migrants arrived in Europe from Libya in each of the past three years.  However, many were intercepted before they could reach their destination.

Libya’s Coast Guard has estimated that there are anywhere between 400,000 to one million captured refugees living in detention centers. According to a report done by the U.N. in September,  the high volume of incarcerated migrants has led to rape, robbery, murder and smuggling.

After the video received outrage from around the world, Libya’s government launched an investigation into the reports of slavery within the country. However since the ousting of of former president Muammer Gudaffi, Libya has faced large amounts of civil strife, and most do not expect anything to come of the investigation.

The rest of the world has taken to protesting outside of Libyan embassies, showing their support for those affected by the Libyan slave trade on social media.

“There are few greater violations of human rights and human dignity than this,” Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the U.N. said.

Justin Dillon founded a website called ‘End Slavery Now’ to spread awareness on how people can help those affected by the Libyan slave trade.