Selling migrants for $12? Tunisia stands accused!
A recent report titled “State Trafficking: Expulsion and Sale of Migrants from Tunisia to Libya” accuses Tunisian authorities of forcibly expelling sub-Saharan African migrants and selling them to Libyan militias. Presented to the European Parliament, the report is based on testimonies from 30 migrants trafficked between June 2023 and November 2024. These accounts detail the sale of individuals at the border by Tunisian police and military personnel, highlighting a disturbing connection between expulsions and the kidnapping industry in Libyan prisons.
“They mistreated us as if we were animals”
Middle East Eye reports that Tunisian authorities arrested migrants and transported them to detention camps at the border. They then handed the migrants over to Libyan militias in exchange for payments. Payments range from 40 to 300 Tunisian dinars ($12.30 to $92.40) per person. The report states:
“The price is based on the final value which the person being sold can generate through their ransom, the overall size of the group and its composition,”
Libyan captors then force families of migrants to pay under the threat that their loved ones will be beaten and tortured. Tragically, some do not survive.