Ghanaian migrants tell harrowing stories of experience in Libya

Some Ghanaians who were transported back to Ghana from Libya following the CNN’s shocking revelations on human auctioning in the North African country have revealed the harsh, inhumane treatment, they were subjected to during their stay.

A total of 127 Ghanaian detainees returned home Wednesday night following revelations of human auctioning and trade by fellow blacks in Libya.

Recounting their unpleasant experiences to Joynews, most of them revealed that they were captured on sea while trying to get to Italy under the pretext that they were assigned by the United Nations (UN).

“They arrested us, beat us up and detained us for several months. I had been in prison for 6 months after which I was told we would be deported only for us to be transported somewhere else. It’s been almost a month since I last took my bath, parts of my body are rotten and decaying. They sold us and beat us. It’s the job the blacks there do, they can sell us for as low as $3,000, the people who died are much more than those who survived”, one migrant revealed.

Another said; ‘I’ve been really tortured, I have been hardened by this experience, before now, all I had seen was a toy gun. In Libya, I saw people shooting some of my colleagues in the foot, others were using knives, I was cut by someone with a knife while trying to flee one time, its left huge scars on my skin”.

“We were starved, we were each given a loaf of bread every morning, given some salt water in the afternoon to drink and nothing else till the next day”, a third detainee recounted.

The returnees who are illegal migrants landed at the Kotoka International Airport by two flights, Air Libya and Afriqiyah among them was a woman, a physically challenged man, and children.

Government paid about 400 cedis per person for their transportation back home. Chilling stories of dehumanizing treatment ranged from robbery to murder.

The International Organization of Migration since their arrival has put in measures to ensure that these migrants are transported safely back to their respective homes and onward, integrated back into society.

The arrival comes as the world wakes up to the shocking auctioning of African youth in modern day slave markets in Libya for as little as $400. CNN broke the investigative piece which got the world talking and the UN considering imposing sanctions on persons involved in the slave trade of African refugees and migrants. Some migrants have already been transported to their countries. Aside Ghana, some 242 migrants have reportedly been transported back to Nigeria.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway has said at least three Ghanaian migrants have been reported to be among those who were auctioned as slaves in Libya.