The Emergence of The New Face of Slavery 21st Century in Africa Case Study Libya (2011-2017)

Abstract

Slavery is an old practice that had existed centuries ago and flourished between the 17th and 19th centuries. The Europeans and the Americans were undoubtedly the ones who were behind the massive kidnapping of Africans who found themselves slaves with the duty of pleasing their white masters. There was no distinction between these slaves and regardless of their gender and age,they had to work in very inhumane conditions. Indeed, aslave man had to work hard mostly in plantations for long periods of time while a slave woman had to work in houses and serve her master even sexually. Children had also to work and despite their young age, they had to work as hard as the others. Away from their families and lands, these slaves were shipped in overcrowded boats heading to Europe,the Americas, Asia and Australia where they were horribly treated. This had a deep impact on the souls of the Africans. When slavery was abolished, Many former slaves returned home with pain and weak physical conditions and the world almost forgot slavery with its harsh meaning. However, with the incoming wars in the African continent such as in Sudan, Senegal, Niger and Nigeria the nightmare of slavery was about to resurface. Indeed, many Africans had to escape from their countries in an attempts to flee wars searching for some hope of peace. To reach Europe, they had to cross north African lands including Libya, a country already in political and military turmoil due to civil war.There, these African refugees found themselves caught in the dilemma of returning home or facing their uncertain fate. Ultimately, they became the prey of greedy people who considered them as merchandise to be sold in auctions at high prices. Some of them were treated like animals working hard for a long time without getting paid. They were tortured andbeaten, sometimes to death.Hence, through this research, one will try to highlight one of the oldest practices in humanity that is slavery and how, though it has been abolished centuries ago, it still exists in modern times and Libya is the case study.