Hundreds of migrants under "slave market" conditions in North Africa, UN agency saysThe International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Tuesday warned that hundreds of migrants are being held under "slave market" conditions in North Africa, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters at UN headquarter. Over the past week, the agency has also learned of several cases in which migrants have been kidnapped in exchange for ransom, the spokesman noted. "The agency is raising awareness across Africa of these dangers by highlighting testimonies from migrants on local radio stations and social media," he said. The more IOM engages inside Libya, the more we learn that it is a vale of tears for all too many migrants." "Last year we learned 14 migrants died in a single month in one of those locations, just from disease and malnutrition.

Source: The North Africa Journal April 11, 2017 05:02 UTC