Labour MP Kate Osamor’s letter to UK Foreign Secretary on his plan towards Libya slavery scandal.

UK Labour MP and Shadow Secretary of State for International Development, Kate Osamor has urged UK Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson to act fast to intervene in the Libya slavery revelations to ensure UK doesn’t become complicit.

In the letter dated 4th December 2017, She wrote;

“Dear Foreign Secretary,
On 14th of November, CNN footage of two men appearing to be sold as slaves at auction in Libya for $400 has rightly sparked worldwide outrage and has led to protests and condemnation by political leaders across the globe. In April 2017, the international Organisation for Migration reported the existence of slave markets on North African Migrant routes, and this truly shocking video confirmed both the reality of slave markets in Libya and also the barbaric inhumanity of the situation faced by migrants and refugees on their way to Europe. Almost two centuries after abolition, slavery is alive and well.

In the face of one of the worst violations of human rights and dignity imaginable, many world leaders have already taken action or pledged to do so. Ghana has repatriated 126 Ghanaians from Libya while Rwandan Foreign Ministry has offered to provide asylum to 30,000 migrants trapped in Libya.

Britain prides itself on being at the forefront of human rights and leading the way in the fight against Modern Slavery. However, the UK continues to support the Libyan coastguard, who have been accused of human rights violations, in their efforts to stop migrants reaching the shores of Europe. It is no coincidence that 400,000 migrants are currently being held in Libya, sharply raising the likelihood of conditions of slavery arising.
Given Donald Trump’s announcement yesterday that the USA will withdraw from global efforts to agree a new global compact for migration and once and for all establish a new world order for migration, it is increasingly important that the UK reaffirms its commitment to safe and orderly migration as a means to stop Modern Slavery.

I would therefore like to ask: –
1. When did the Foreign and Commonwealth Office become aware of the situation and conditions of slavery in Libya?
2. What steps have you taken to ensure that the UK does not contribute to Modern Slavery there?
3. What is Foreign Office’s action plan to actively tackle Modern Slavery in the region.
4. In light of the USA pulling out of the UN global compact on migration, will the UK recommit to the global compact and ensure this latest development does not jeopardise a global action plan on migration?
5. Will you reassess and reconsider the UK’s support for the Libyan coastguard in light of its possible impact on Modern Slaver?”

She then concluded, requesting that they have the correspondence to this letter in public as it’s in public interest.

She concluded, “As this letter is in the public interest, I intend to make our correspondence public.”

This comes weeks after a CNN led documentary exposed the mistreatment, abuse and slave auctioning of African Migrants in Libya. The revelation has since sparked outrage across the world with a spiralling incidence of demonstrations across nations by Africans in diaspora.

The gory visuals showed thousands of Migrants trapped in the illegal detention, battery abuse and sale of humans across privately owned prisons operated by criminals and human traffickers in Tripoli and across the failed state of Libya.

Critics have not stopped to blame the US, Obama, France and UK led operation in the country which led to the overthrow and ‘assassination of the then leader, Muammar Gadhafi six years ago. Since his death and removal, critics claim that the region which was well guarded by the late Prime Minister has been let loose to create a hell on earth in the region bringing back all manners of human catastrophe.