On November 22, France Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the French Parliament that France called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over the slave-trading issue in Libya.
“France decided this morning to ask for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss this issue … We are doing it as a permanent member of the Security Council. We have this capability and we are using it,” Le Drian told the French Parliament, according to France 24 TV.
Le Drian revealed that France had warned the Libyan authorities of the slave-trading problem many times without a result. The French foreign minister added that international sanctions should be implemented if the Libyan authorities fail to address this problem.
“Libyan authorities, who have been alerted several times, including by myself because I was there in September, have decided to open an investigation into the facts … We want it to go fast and if the Libyan justice system can not carry this procedure through then we should open international sanctions,” Le Drian said, according to Reuters agency.
France President Emmanuel Macron said after meeting with African Union Chief Alpha Conde that the videos of salve markets in Libya were “scandalous” and “unacceptable”, according to France 24. The shocking videos were released by the CNN back on November 16.
“It is a crime against humanity … I hope we can go much further in the fight against traffickers who commit such crimes, and cooperate with all the countries in the network to dismantle these networks,” Macron said.
The current security collapse in Libya and the growing slave markets in the country are a direct result of the NATO military intervention in Libya in 2011. Back then, France led the political efforts to make this intervention against the Ghaddafi regime possible by proposing the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 that imposed a No-Fly zone over the Libyan rebels’ areas.
France didn’t only lead the political efforts to wreak the havoc in Libya, but it was also the first to bomb the former Libyan Army on March 19, 2011. Libyan sources even claimed that France went on and provided close air support for the Libyan rebels’ attacks against Ghaddafi forces.
As a result of this havoc, Libya is now in chaos. The country has at least two different governments and multiple rival armed formations, which are at war. Due to this. it’s very unclear which “Libyan authorities” Le Drian was referring to, and accusing it of failing to deal with the slave traiding. It’s actually more logical to say that France is the side who caused the growing slave trade in Libya and continues to do so.