The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that no Ghanaian has been involved in the slave trade reported in Libya.
According to the Ministry, all Ghanaians being detained in the Northern Africa country are being held on illegal immigration charges and not being traded as slaves as earlier reported by the media.
“The 168 Ghanaians in Libya were arrested on illegal immigration charges,” the deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Habib Mohammed said on Morning Starr Wednesday.
He added that the ministry has issued the necessary travel documents to facilitate their repatriation to Ghana on a chartered flight.
Mr. Mohammed disclosed that the 168 Ghanaians arrested included eight women and four children. He added that those Ghanaians are likely to arrive in Ghana by Thursday.
Footage of men being auctioned off as slaves in Libya has been met with outrage and the UN Secretary-General has called on the international community to “unite in fighting this scourge”.
The horrible images show some migrants being sold for $400 while others are tortured to death by individuals in Libyan military wears.
In the grainy mobile footage, unidentified men are offered up as a group of “big strong boys for farm work”.
The film was obtained by CNN journalists, who later witnessed another sale of a dozen men in a courtyard outside the country’s capital, Tripoli.
After the footage emerged, protests erupted in Paris and other cities, while Libyans expressed solidarity with the victims with the hashtag #LibyansAgainstSlavery.
The Libyan government launched an investigation into the slave auctions, but said the international community needed to provide more support if it was going to tackle the problem.
Mr. Mohammed added that the African Union is sending an investigative team to probe the slave trade in Libya.
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM
