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Ethiopia’s police have announced the arrest of an international human trafficker, along with nine accomplices, who were accused of trafficking over 3,000 people to Libya. The trafficked survivors endured torture and were sexually assaulted.
According to the Ethiopian police, the human trafficking syndicate have been under investigation since 2018 and has been recruiting youths from Ethiopia, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Kenya, and Somalia who had hopes of migrating to Europe through Libya.
The trafficking ring operated five warehouses in Libya, where they held victims hostage and demanded ransom from their relatives for their release. The Ethiopian Police further revealed that those who could not afford ransom were given only one meagre meal a day, beaten, whipped with rubber or electric cables, and had their hands and feet chained. AFP reported that some were also burned with plastic bottles, and many died from torture.
“They engaged in illegally trafficking more than 3,000 people, killing over 100 people, and raping more than 50 women,” the police wrote in a statement.
Over 100 victims and their relatives were interviewed by the Ethiopian police during the investigation. The police found that the criminal syndicate moved around $20 million through its operations.
The police also said the investigation had uncovered more than 70 major human traffickers in Ethiopia and abroad.
