General News of Monday, 4 December 2017

Source: mynewsgh.com

Brushing my teeth and bathing in 3 years was a luxury - Rescued libyan slave

About 127 Ghanaian migrants have been rescued from Libya About 127 Ghanaian migrants have been rescued from Libya

A rescued slave, who was in detention three years waiting for prospective buyers to be auctioned, has revealed that he never had the luxury of neither bathing nor brushing his teeth within the stated period.

“For the three years I was in that den called prison, I did not bath or brushed my teeth. You can see that I have dread logs and my teeth are coloured. I thank God I have been freed and will restart my life all over again and don’t even think I will nurse any intention of traveling outside my home country”, he revealed to mynewsgh.com

Yakubu Alhassan (not real name), 35 who disclosed that it will take time to overcome the trauma he had gone through in the hands of slave traders and security agencies in Libya, sent a word of caution to other youth who want to seek greener pastures to reconsider their decision.

“Hearing gunshots and seeing dead bodies was nothing to us, you can see marks of the flogging they subjected me to. My colleagues experienced same…even when we were eating they will still be beating us”, he disclosed.

The booming slave trade in Libya has left many hearts broken after images and video footages of how captives have been subjected to horrendous treatment by their assailants awaiting to be sold out like commodities went viral.

In one of the video circulating on social media, a prospective buyer indicates his preference for Nigerian men saying they are ‘big strong boys for farm work.’

The sad development that has left African leaders devastated appears to be a boom for the auctioneers who in the videos can be heard shouting prices, before one of the men is sold for 1,200 Libyan dinars – the equivalent of about $800 or £665.

Meanwhile, Ghana managed to facilitate the airlifting of one hundred and twenty-seven (127) migrants who were in various detention centres into the country on Wednesday after being arrested by Libyan authorities.

Reports said one of the migrant is said to be a critical condition following the deteriorating conditions of the Libyan detention centres

Air Libya and Afriqiya Airways brought in all the 127 after being escued from detention centres in Libya following CNN’s footage of migrants being auctioned off as slaves in Libya.

Some claimed colleague Ghanaians are responsible for their predicament as they were reported to be neck-deep in the illicit trade

“I went there because my husband was working there, he was involved in an accident at his workplace and on our way to the hospital we were arrested by the Police”, one of those rescued recounted how she was arrested.

Country Director of International Organization for Migration Sylvia Lopez said more voluntary returns should be expected in the coming weeks and months.