THIS WEEK CNN RELEASED VIDEO APPARENTLY SHOWING THE SALE
OF AFRICAN MIGRANTS INTO SLAVERY TAKEN IN A LIBYAN MARKET.
LET'S WATCH.
BIG STRONG BOYS FOR FARM WORK HE SAYS.
400.
700.
800.
THE NUMBERS ROLE IN.
THESE MEN ARE SOLD FOR 1200 LIBYAN POUNDS, $400 APIECE.
LOOK, THIS IS PERHAPS ONE OF THE DARKEST TURNS IN THIS
ONGOING MIGRANT CRISIS.
WE'VE BEEN REPORTING ON IT FOR YEARS AND OBVIOUSLY THERE
ARE THE THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WHO'VE LOST THEIR
LIVES TRYING TO MOVE ACROSS THE MEDITERRANEAN.
THERE BEEN REPORTS ALL THROUGHOUT THIS YEAR OF
PEOPLE BEING BLACKMAILED AND HELD HOSTAGE.
WHEN I WAS IN OSLO REPORTING ON THE HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATION,
THERE WAS A WOMAN WHO WOULD HELP TO FREE LITERALLY THOUSANDS OF
PEOPLE FROM THOSE ARE THE BLACK MAILINGS IN A HOSTAGE TAKINGS.
BUT TO SEE A SLAVE MARKET OPERATING IN 2017 IS
PARTICULARLY DARK.
I HAD GONE DOWN TO CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA LAST YEAR AND I
VISITED AN OLD SLAVE MARKET, NOW TURNED INTO A MUSEUM AND THEY
EXPLAINED HOW THEY AUCTIONED PEOPLE OFTEN SOMETIMES THEY
SEPARATE FAMILIES AND BY THE WAY, IT IS NOT IN A VIDEO, BUT
THEY ARE SEPARATING FAMILIES AS WELL AND WHAT IS NOT TALKED
ABOUT A LOT BECAUSE IT IS SO UNCOMFORTABLE IS THE RATE THAT
HAPPENS FOR MIGRANTS IN PRESENT DAY, THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
ALSO IN SLAVERY IN THE OLD TIMES.
VASTLY UNDERREPORTED, UNDER TALKED ABOUT BECAUSE IT MAKES
PEOPLE UNCOMFORTABLE WAS THE NONSTOP RAPE OF SLAVES, AND AS
IT WAS GOING TO THE SLAVE MARKET THEN I SAW THIS REPORT, AND CNN
DID A GREAT JOB HERE, FULL VIDEO AND THE DESCRIPTION BOX, THE
LINK TO IT.
IT SOUNDED JUST LIKE WHAT USED TO HAPPEN IN THE OLD DAYS
AND SOMETIMES SOME PEOPLE IN THE COUNTRY WILL SAY, YOU KNOW
THE SLAVES WERE SOLD OFF IN AFRICA TO BEGIN WITH.
YEAH, WE KNOW THAT.
THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT ANY BETTER, IT DOESN'T MAKE IT ANY WORSE.
AND YES, SLAVERY HAPPEN ALL ACROSS THE WORLD AND WE
THOUGHT WE HAD ERADICATED IT AND NOW IT IS BACK AND LOOK,
THERE IS SOME FORM OF MODERN SLAVERY IN AMERICA WHERE WE
MAKE OUR PRISONERS WORK FOR A DOLLAR A DAY JUST BECAUSE
ZERO A DAY WOULD BE LITERAL SLAVERY SO THEY ARE LIKE
OKAY, WE WILL GIVE THEM ONE DOLLAR FOR A DAYS WORK JUST
SO THAT WE TECHNICALLY DON'T COLLEGE SLAVERY.
IN THIS CASE, THEY ARE NOT GIVING THE DOLLAR, THEIR
AUCTIONING THEM OFF JUST LIKE THE TERRIBLE TIMES OF PAST.
WE HAVE ANOTHER VIDEO I WANT TO SHOW YOU.
THIS IS A NIGERIAN MAN BEING INTERVIEWED BY CNN
INTERNATIONAL, TALKING ABOUT HIS STORY OF BEING TAKEN INTO
SLAVERY AND HIS EVENTUAL ESCAPE, THANKFULLY, BUT WARNING,
THIS IS AN INCREDIBLY EMOTIONAL, TRAGIC TALE THAT HE IS
GOING TO RELAY IN THIS VIDEO.
HERE IT IS.
I WAS SOLD.
ON MY WAY COMING HERE I WAS SOLD.
AS I WAS SOLD THEY DEMANDED A RANSOM.
THE PUSHER MAN, I GAVE HIM MONEY, HE DID NOT PAY.
SINCE HE DID NOT PAY THE MONEY THEY SOLD ME.
I WAS THERE, THE PERSON WHO CAME TO BUY ME, GAVE ME MY MONEY.
THEY ASK YOU TO PAY MONEY SO, PROBABLY MUST BE THERE FOR
LIKE THREE MONTHS, THEY WILL START BEATING YOU.
FROM A WEEK THEY START BEATING SO THAT YOUR MONEY WILL
COME QUICKLY.
I WAS THERE FOR A MONTH BEFORE I PAID MY MONEY AND I WENT OUT.
IF YOU LOOK AT MOST OF THE PEOPLE HERE, IF YOU CHECK
THE BODY, YOU SEE THE MARKS.
THERE BEATEN WITH ELECTRIC.
EVEN WHEN YOU'RE BUT HOLD THEY SHOOT UP A SHARP OBJECT.
YOU UNDERSTAND?
MOST OF THEM LOST THEIR LIVES THERE.
MANY ARE DYING EVERY DAY.
NO PHONE CALL.
THE FAMILY ARE THINKING THAT PERSON HAS DIED.
THEY HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES.
WHEN THEY'RE JUST IN ONE PLACE SUFFERING.
GOING BACK HOME NOW, I'M TOTALLY FRUSTRATED.
I DON'T KNOW WHERE TO START FROM.
BECAUSE I SPENT MY LIFE SAVINGS LEAVING THE COUNTRY.
YOU UNDERSTAND?
GOING BACK HOME NOW.
A FRIEND, WHICH WE START TOGETHER, MOST OF THEM ARE
IN EUROPE NOW.
THE BUSINESS THEY ARE DOING.
MOST OF THEM HAVE GROWN UP.
I GO BACK AND START FROM SQUARE ONE.
IT'S VERY PAINFUL.
VERY PAINFUL.
EVEN WHEN THEY GAVE US FOOD HERE, WATER.
THAT'S NOT THE MAIN PROBLEM TO ME.
THE MAIN PROBLEM TO ME IS THAT I'M GOING TO START, THAT'S
JUST THE MAIN PROBLEM BECAUSE I'VE LOST A LOT.
MY MOTHER HAS LOST A LOT.
SO IT'S VERY DIFFICULT.
ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS THAT IF THEY SAY THE EUROPEANS ARE
NOT HELPING, SO THIS KIND OF CASE, YOU DEPORTING NUMBERS OF
PEOPLE LIKE THIS, YOU WILL HAVE TO SUPPORT THEM INTO HANDED.
IF YOU LOOK AT IT YOU ARE DEPORTING US BEFORE WE
LEFT, WE ALL HAVE A DREAM.
ISN'T IT?
YES.
WE ALL HAVE A DREAM, YOU UNDERSTAND?
HOPING THAT WHEN WE GET THERE WE ACHIEVE SOMETHING, BECAUSE
A LOT OF PEOPLE THEY GO THROUGH FLOODS, THROUGH LAND, WE
SEE WHAT THEY ACHIEVE.
WE BELIEVE THAT WHEN WE GET THERE WE WILL ALSO ACHIEVE
MORE THAN THAT.
THAT'S WHY WE LEAVE.
SO THIS IS A STORY OF PEOPLE, AS HE SAID AT THE END, A DREAM
AND UNFORTUNATELY I'M GOING TO USE A CLICH…
HERE, BUT THAT
TURNED INTO A NIGHTMARE SO A LOT OF THEM LEFT NIGERIA TRYING TO
GET TO ITALY AND TO GET TO EUROPE THROUGH LIBYA AND
SOME OF THEM MADE IT AND THEN GET SUPPORTED BACK AND THEY
LOSE EVERYTHING AND IN THE MEANWHILE, SOLD OFFICE SLAVES.
BEATEN, SEXUALLY ASSAULTED, KILLED, ELECTRIC SHOCKS AND
ALL THEIR LIFE SAVINGS STOLEN FROM THEM.
THEN THEY HAVE TO GO BACK TO WHERE THEY STARTED AND
START FROM SQUARE RUN THAT THERE SOME CHANCE THAT IF THEY
STATED THAT THEY WOULD BE PRETTY HARD WORKERS.
HAVING GONE THROUGH ALL OF THAT FOR FREEDOM, THAT THEY MIGHT
ACTUALLY LIVE OUT THAT DREAM, BUT WE'VE DECIDED WE'RE NOT
GOING TO GIVE THEM MUCH AND SO IT'S JUST SUPER DISHEARTENING TO
SEE WHAT THE WORLD HAS COME TO AN I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH PEOPLE
CAN WITHSTAND SO THINGS ARE BOILING OVER AND LOTS OF PARTS
OF THE WORLD AND THEY'RE TRYING TO ESCAPE BUT THESE GUYS WHO
BELIEVED IN THE WESTERN DREAM WE TURN AROUND AND GUYS LIKE
TRUMP TURN AROUND AND SAY NO, THEY ARE THE BAD GUYS.
THEY ARE THE ONES THAT ARE CAUSING TROUBLE.
NO, THEY ARE RUNNING FROM TROUBLE TOWARD FREEDOM AND
OPPORTUNITY AND WE SLAM THE DOOR SHUT ON THEM AND IT IS NOT
JUST OUR FAULT.
OBVIOUSLY WHAT'S HAPPENING IN LIBYA DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING
TO DO WITH US AND IT IS IMPORTANT AND THERE'S A LOT
OF TERROR IN THE WORLD SO LOOK, JUST A QUICK NOTE ON THE
ACTUAL CNN EXCLUSIVE THERE, I OFTEN CRITICIZE THEM CUT
BUT YOU HAVE TO GIVE CREDIT WERE CREDIT IS DUE.
THEY DID A WONDERFUL JOB BRINGING A POWERFUL AND
IMPORTANT STORY THERE AND LIKE I SAID, THE LINK IS IN
THE DESCRIPTION BOX BELOW FOR THE WHOLE VIDEO THE
EXACTLY, YEAH.
YOU WATCH A VIDEO LIKE THAT AND I MEAN, I'D LIKE TO IMAGINE
THAT EVERYONE HAS TO BE AFFECTED BY THE, NOT JUST
PROGRESSIVES OR PEOPLE WHO DEFINE THEMSELVES BY THEIR
EMPATHY, BUT HOW DOES A TRUMP SUPPORTER WATCH THAT AND
NOT FEEL SOMETHING FOR THAT PERSON.
THAT PERSON HAS GONE THROUGH SOMETHING THAT NONE OF US CAN
EVEN IMAGINE POTENTIALLY THEN YOU CAN SEE IT ON HIS FACE,
EXPERIENCING IT, THAT HE'S BEEN BEATEN FOR EIGHT MONTHS, SLAVE,
AND HE'S MORE SCARED OF THE FUTURE NOW BECAUSE HE HAS TO GO
BACK TO A SITUATION THAT WAS SO BAD THAT HE FLED FROM IN THE
FIRST PLACE AND I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW YOU COULD WATCH
THAT AND STILL THINK THE THING SO MANY AMERICANS THINK ABOUT
MIGRANTS ABOUT PEOPLE TRYING TO GET HERE AND ESPECIALLY, IF ANY
COUNTRY SHOULD HAVE AN EASY STARTING POINT FOR
UNDERSTANDING THE LENGTHS PEOPLE GO TO, TO TRAVEL
INTERNATIONALLY TO START A NEW LIFE, HOW CAN ANYONE IN
AMERICA NOT UNDERSTAND THAT DRIVE, NOT UNDERSTAND THE
PEOPLE CAME TO AMERICA AND WERE INDENTURED SERVANTS WERE SLAVES.
THE TERRIBLE THINGS THAT HAPPEN TO THEM, UNDERSTAND HOW
PEOPLE CAN HAVE THAT EMPATHY AFTER WATCHING THAT.
BECAUSE JOHN, YOU SAW A ROOM FULL OF YOUR FELLOW HUMAN
BEINGS, UNFORTUNATELY, SOME PEOPLE SEE THAT ROOM AND THAT IS
NOT WHAT THEY SEE AND THAT IS ALL A LOT OF WAYS THE PHENOMENON
THAT ALLOWS THEM TO GET SO ABUSED, WHEREVER THEY WIND
UP BECAUSE PEOPLE DON'T EMPATHIZE THEM AS FELLOW HUMANS.