Italian authorities announced Wednesday that they had arrested two 'madams' and put 10 other people of African origins under investigation for the incitement to prostitution of 15 young Nigerian women who had arrived in Sicily on migrant boats and were forced to sell sex.
The UNHCR announced a joint initiative with the World Food Programme (WFP) to save up to 10,000 refugees and migrants stuck in Libya from malnourishment and starvation. The program comes amid the global coronavirus pandemic.
At least 30 migrants were brutally murdered in Libya by the family of a slain human trafficker. Libya’s interior ministry said it has issued an arrest warrant for the suspected attackers.
In a bid to address coronavirus-related labor shortages, Italy has introduced measures to allow for migrants to work in the agricultural sector for the time being. However, the Thomson Reuters Foundation fears that this might inadvertently lead to exploitation at the hands of the mafia.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 200,000 people have been displaced in the past 12 months. The coronavirus pandemic appears to further complicate the situation in the war-torn country.
Slavery isn't a thing of the past, but a reality for more than 40 million people around the globe. DW talks to one of the world's oldest anti-slavery organization about why slavery still exists today.
Authorities in Niger rescued 232 victims of sex trafficking and forced labor. Among the victims were girls as young as 10.
Italian authorities busted two Nigerian mafia groups operating in Italy and abroad to traffic migrants. Investigators said that the groups forced women into sex work.
Libyan Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Maiteeq told DW in an exclusive interview that there was "no slavery" in Libya - following multiple reports surfacing from the country over the past two years accusing it of ignoring the fact that migrants are being subjected to grave human rights abuses including forced labor and sexual abuse.
At least one of the 39 smuggled migrants who suffocated or froze in a lorry in the UK last week is believed to have been a 26-year-old Vietnamese woman whose dream was to work in a nail salon. The tragedy has led to calls for a crackdown on trafficking of Vietnamese into the so-called nail bar business.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has warned that the number of women and girls being trafficked from Ivory Coast has been rising. Many of them reportedly suffer abuse, slavery and prostitution — both in North Africa and Europe.
Rwanda has welcomed 66 refugees from other African nations, who had been stuck under dangerous conditions in Libya. The central African country is expected relocate thousands of people stranded in Libya under a new program. However, there are already questions about the future of the program.