Somali & Ethiopian migrants and refugees abused, held against their will by gangs in Libya – IOM
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has said that a video posted on Facebook earlier this month showed “abused Somalis and Ethiopians … huddled fearfully in a concrete room”.
“Seeing a Facebook video of innocent migrants and refugees who have been abused and tortured is deeply concerning. IOM condemns the way that criminal gangs use social media in their shocking abuse of people held against their will and to extort money from their families back home,” said Mohammed Abdiker, IOM Director of Operations and Emergencies.
The United Nations migration agency is alarmed by the video showing around 260 Somali and Ethiopian migrants allegedly held and mistreated by criminal gangs in Libya.
Parents and relatives of the captives are receiving short video clips via social media, and asked to pay between USD 8,000–10,000 or their child or relative will be killed. According to their families in Somalia some of the individuals in the videos have been missing for up to six years.
“I have being here one year. I am beaten every day. I swear I do not eat food. My body is bruised from beating,” said one of the captives in the video. “If you have seen the life here you wouldn’t stay this world any more. I didn’t eat the last four days but the biggest problem is beating here. They don’t want to release me.”
Speaking on video to a Somali journalist based in Turkey (who recorded the call he received from the criminal gang), the migrants and refugees sitting on the floor in a crowded space say they have been beaten and tortured. Some report that their teeth have been removed, their arms broken and that none of them have been given any food. They explain that women have been put in different cells, where they are afraid that they are being further abused both sexually and physically, says the report by IOM.
This is a global problem where a smuggler or a criminal gang can easily use digital platforms to advertise their services, entice vulnerable people on the move and then exploit them and their families. It is high time that social media and tech companies recognize the extreme harm that is occurring because of their failure to monitor and react to situations of grave human rights abuses – leading ultimately to murder – that are being shared through their channels,” said Mohammed Abdiker, IOM Director of Operations and Emergencies.
Migrants and refugees travelling to Libya are frequently abducted in the Raybana area on the country’s southern border after crossing from Sudan. Relevant authorities are aware of the situation and are working to locate and assist the individuals in the video (IOM has not shared the Facebook video to protect the migrants and refugees from retaliation by their captors)
“The cruelty of traffickers preying on vulnerable refugees + migrants in Libya seems to have no limits" @Awad_Amin_ https://t.co/RM7YTKhjWi pic.twitter.com/7jZIwrouNp
— UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency (@Refugees) June 15, 2017
