THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
CNN report showing trade in sub-Saharan migrants in Libya has sparked outrage in Africa and the global Black community. Protesters turned out in Berlin on Saturday to express their anger and make demands.
More than 500 people gathered in front of the Libyan embassy in Berlin on Saturday (25 November) to express their outrage at the widespread violation of the human rights of sub-Saharan migrants in the North African country.
The event, named ‘Demonstration to End the Enslavement, Rape, Torture and Killings of Blacks in Libya’, was organised by different groups united under the banner of the ‘Black Community in Germany’.
Protesters called on the Libyan government to immediately end the despicable practice of auctioning migrants and bring perpetrators of the crime to justice while compensating the victims. It was also demanded that migrants presently languishing in detention, often in appalling conditions, be released immediately.
Europe was accused of being complicit in the situation in Libya as the militias, which are responsible for most of the atrocities against the migrants, were recruited, armed and funded by the West in the events leading to the overthrow of the government of Moamar Gaddafi in 2011.
And there have been reports of active co-operation between the Italian government and militias and criminal trafficking groups for the purpose of preventing migrants from leaving Libya for the territory of the EU.
Several protesters, speaking with this website, tasked African governments to put pressure on Tripoli to end the practice of enslaving Black people and violating their human rights in the country, and release detained migrants. Moreover, governments should evacuate their citizens from the North African country.
In a press statement at the event, the organizers, grouped under the banner of the Black Community in Germany, said:
“We are appalled and we strongly condemn the silence, unwillingness and inability of the African Union (AU) and African heads of state and governments to act.
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“It is scandalous that they are coming to Europe to cry for Western victims, but are so insensitive to their own fellow citizens, the victims of enslavement, rape, assassination, torture, humiliation, human trafficking and other racist crimes – whether in Arab, Asian, American or European countries.”
“Due to the inability and unwillingness of African states to protect Black people worldwide from foreign racist enslavers and oppressors, imperialist exploiters and perverse rapists, Black communities need to ensure their own protection, survival and freedom,” Black Community in Germany said.
Black organisations from Europe to the US have been reacting to the CNN video report. Persons of African descent trooped out on the streets of Paris on Saturday, 18 November to protest the despicable trade.
About a thousand people turned up in front of the Libyan Embassy in Paris following calls by several prominent anti-slavery groups and a number of celebrities of African origin, including soccer star Didier Drogba and former Miss France, Sonia Rolland.
Public protests took place on Saturday in Geneva and are planned in Cologne on Monday.
Protest actions have also been carried out in several African countries, with prominent citizens speaking out against the enslavement of Africans in Libya.
Black activists in the United States have also been expressing their disgust on the issue on social media
Sola Jolaoso
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