Vol. 81/No. 47 December 18, 2017
NY protest hits slave auctions, abuse of migrants
in Africa
They were responding to the outrage coursing through African communities here after a recent CNN-TV exposé on the abuse of migrants by human traffickers in Libya and other parts of northern Africa. The report included undercover videos of West Africans being sold at auction in Libya.
Hundreds of African immigrants mounted a similar protest in Paris. Some carried signs saying, “Put an end to the slavery and concentration camps in Libya,” and chanted, “Free our brothers!”
More than 700,000 migrants from across Africa are now in Libya, a recent United Nations report says. They seek to escape devastating social and economic conditions on the continent. The vast majority are looking to migrate to Europe, risking death by drowning in the Mediterranean Sea and abuse at the hands of the smugglers, including beatings, kidnapping and enslavement.
Coordinated efforts by Europe’s capitalist rulers have made the voyage more difficult, and the numbers of migrants massed in Libya has swelled. Since smugglers can’t profit from getting them across, they’ve turned to the slave auctions to raise money.
Spokespeople for the official Libyan government have denounced these auctions. However, the government, recognized by Washington and other imperialist rulers, has little control over conditions in the country. Libyan officials have set up an Anti-Illegal Immigration Agency and appeal for help from African governments to deport migrants back to where they fled from.
“The practical solution is to address the real reasons that drive people to leave their home countries, treat them and develop final solutions for them,” Libya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Protest participants were united in demanding an end to the slave auctions, for respect for the rights of migrants, and to assert the dignity of all Africans.
As they rallied, protesters engaged in lively discussions about what to do about the economic and political crisis in Africa today and the migration it spawns. Many were happy to see books by Thomas Sankara and leaders of the Socialist Workers Party, as well as the Militant, brought by SWP members who joined them in the protest.
Thomas Sankara was the leader of Burkina Faso’s popular revolutionary government from 1983 to 1987, when he was assassinated and the revolution overturned. Many from Africa look to Sankara’s anti-imperialist and revolutionary course, and his identification with revolutionary Cuba, as relevant today in Africa and for workers around the world.
Some thought the protest should have focused instead on the social and economic disaster across Africa imposed by the imperialist powers — from Washington to Paris, Rome and Madrid. Others were attracted to demands to cancel the African countries’ debt to the imperialist powers, and using that capital toward meeting the needs of the toiling populations across the continent.
A few saw the condemnation of Libya by capitalist governments across Africa as an attempt to divert attention from their own disastrous policies, which reinforce the crisis imposed by a legacy of colonial rule and imperialist exploitation and help fuel the migration of hundreds of thousands toward Europe.
Participants grabbed up eight copies of books with Thomas Sankara’s speeches. Several exchanged details and said they would get the books when they had the money.
Related articles:
Thousands protest in DC for ‘No deportations!’
Tel Aviv pushes African refugees to leave
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