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STORY: UN / LIBYA HUMAN TRAFFICKING
TRT: 02:54
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / ENGLISH / FRENCH
DATELINE: 28 NOVEMBER 2017, NEW YORK CITY
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UNHQ exterior
28 NOVEMBER 2017, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Elmahdi S. Elmajerbi, Deputy Permanent Representative of Libya to the United Nations:
“If the international community is indeed serious in confronting illegal migration, or at least lessening its impact, must stand united and adopt an effective approach to resolve the causes and roots of the problem instead of focusing on further media escalation and defaming Libya. We also support all measures to sanction smugglers and human traffickers provided that they cover all those involved both inside and outside of Libya, whether in the countries of origin, transit, or destination.
4. Med shot, delegates
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Elmahdi S. Elmajerbi, Deputy Permanent Representative of Libya to the United Nations:
“We would like to remind [the Council] that Libya, which is subject to a large-scale false media campaign of defamation trying to portray it as a racist country, has a large portion dark-skinned people as part of our population, especially in the south, and has absorbed in the past more than two million migrant workers from African and Arab neighbouring states for projects both in the private and public sector and they were treat well.”
6. Med shot, delegates
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Elmahdi S. Elmajerbi, Deputy Permanent Representative of Libya to the United Nations:
“Regarding the countries of destination, any arrangements or plans to prevent the arrival of migrants to these countries and forcing them to return to Libya is a shirking of responsibility according to international law and international humanitarian law, which will put them in harm’s way, especially with the instable situation, and will impose new burdens on the Libyan authorities which is in need of technical assistance to face this temporary phenomenon.”
8. Wide shot, Security Council
9. SOUNDBITE (French) François Delattre, Permanent Representative of the French Republic to the United Nations:
“We must be aware that human trafficking covers numerous forms of exploitation; abduction, forced labour, torture, arbitrary detention, sexual servitude, rape, to mention just a few. These abject practices are not merely intolerable from the moral standpoint, they also constitute crimes against humanity and they must not, they cannot, be left unpunished.”
10. Wide shot, Security Council
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Sebastiano Cardi was named the Permanent Representative of Italy to the United Nations:
“The recent reports showing migrants in Libya reportedly being sold as slaves are sickening. Slavery must have no place in today’s world. These actions are among the most outrageous abuses of human rights and may amount to crimes against humanity. We condemn them in the strongest terms.”
12. Wide shot, Security Council
Libyan ambassador to the UN Elmahdi Elmajerbi told the Security Council today (28 Nov) that his country is being subjected to “a large-scale false media campaign of defamation trying to portray it as a racist country” and called on the international community to take steps to combat human trafficking and illegal migration.
Reading a letter on behalf of the head of the Presidential Council of the Libyan Government of National Unity, Faiz Al-Siraj, Elmajerbi said the government followed the media reports of human trafficking and slavery in the country with concern and is currently investigating them. He said, regardless of whether the reports are true or not, the Libyan Government condemns these acts in the strongest terms possible and reaffirms that they are isolated incidents and not at all systematic.
The Libyan ambassador said human trafficking is a crime committed by transnational criminal groups through countries that are experiencing instability and requires a holistic approach by the international community. He said Libya support all measures “to sanction smugglers and human traffickers provided that they cover all those involved both inside and outside of Libya, whether in the countries of origin, transit, or destination.”
Elmajerbi said migration is a multi-faceted international problem and cannot be shouldered by transit countries like Libya alone. He noted that any plans by the countries of destination to prevent the arrival of migrants and “forcing them to return to Libya is a shirking of responsibility according to international law and international humanitarian law, which will put them in harm’s way, especially with the instable situation, and will impose new burdens on the Libyan authorities which is in need of technical assistance to face this temporary phenomenon.” He called on the European Union to review its policies in this regard, adding his government rejects any attempt to settle illegal migrants in transit countries like Libya.
French ambassador François Delattre said the horrific images circulated by the media in recent weeks are shocking and underscore the urgency of improving the global policy to put an end to this human tragedy. He added, “We must be aware that human trafficking covers numerous forms of exploitation; abduction, forced labour, torture, arbitrary detention, sexual servitude, rape, to mention just a few; these abject practices are not merely intolerable from the moral standpoint, they also constitute crimes against humanity and they must not, they cannot, be left unpunished.” He said it is the duty of the international community to act in the face of such crimes for the protection of victims.
Italian ambassador Sebastiano Cardi said the recent reports showing migrants in Libya reportedly being sold as slaves “are sickening.” He said slavery “must have no place in today’s world” adding that these actions are “among the most outrageous abuses of human rights and may amount to crimes against humanity.” Cardi said human trafficking in Libya and the Mediterranean is at the centre of Italian efforts at the UN adding that his country rescued and welcomed over half a million refugees and migrants over the past years. He noted that a sustainable solution stems from strengthening Libyan state institutions and stressed that the issue is transnational and thus Libya cannot be left alone to deal with it.
