The AU said on Tuesday it had launched an investigation into the sale of African migrants as slaves by armed groups in Libya.
“The AU would try to get access to illegal detention centres in which migrants were held without charges
“We have asked the Libyan authorities to facilitate the ongoing inquiries. The perpetrators will be dealt with through the justice system,’’ AU Commission Chair, Moussa Mahamat told journalists in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.
Mahamat said the AU had dispatched its Commissioner for Social Affairs, Amir El-Fadil as a special envoy to Libya to launch the inquiry.
The AU has appealed to its 55 member states to provide logistics support to enable the evacuation of the migrants held in Libya to their countries of origin.
The AU decision to launch an investigation comes days after American television network CNN broadcast footage of African migrants being auctioned off as slaves in Libya for as little as 400 dollars.
UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres had on Monday said he was “horrified’’ by the footage.