UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday expressed shock over media reports that African migrants in Libya were sold as slaves.
"I abhor these appalling acts and call upon all competent authorities to investigate these activities without delay and to bring the perpetrators to justice," Guterres told reporters, adding that he has asked relevant United Nations actors to actively pursue this matter.
A CNN report that included video footage of a slave auction last month outside the Libyan capital of Tripoli, where about a dozen migrants were sold as slaves in a matter of minutes, triggered international outcry.
"I urge every nation to adopt and apply the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and its protocol on trafficking in persons and I urge the international community to unite in fighting this scourge," the UN chief said.
Slavery has no place in our world and these actions are among the most egregious abuses of human rights and may amount to crimes against humanity, said Guterres.
He stressed the need to address migration flows in a comprehensive and humane manner: through development cooperation aiming at addressing its root causes, through a meaningful increase of all the opportunities for legal migration and through an enhanced international cooperation in cracking down on smugglers and traffickers and protecting the rights of their victims.
Since the uprising in Libya that overthrew longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya's coast has became a hub for human trafficking and smuggling. Most of the migrants in Libya are fleeing sub-Saharan Africa on their way to Europe.
