800,000–900,000 migrants trapped in Libya in 2024. Many never made it out

800,000–900,000 migrants trapped in Libya in 2024. Many never made it out

I just remember something

My mom owned a hair salon once, and she had a loyal customer who had been visiting her for 5 years or so

I was a teenager who was about to get into university and always looked forward to helping my mom at the shop.

So one day she suggested to my mom to allow her to take me to Libya.

I was going to go to work for a while, then continue school, according to her.

I mean, she had all this promise of how my life could be better, so I was pretty much excited

She almost convinced my mom, but I guess my Mom could not bear to part with her first child yet.

So she eventually refused.

Mind you, after Gaddafi fell in 2011, Libya collapsed, borders unpatrolled, militias armed, and human beings traded like cargo. Chainwire UN investigators documented enslavement, rape at gunpoint, and women forced into sexual slavery, and human beings continued to be passed from trafficker to trafficker, held in darkness, tortured, and extorted, with some never making it out.

It was a month after that that I heard about the war that was going on in Libya

And how young female ladies were sold into prostitution, with some never returning home

I guess I escaped human trafficking

The naive teenager was angry that my Mom could not let me go then.

But I would have hated myself and her had I gone.

Some were not as lucky.

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