Enslaved. Trapped and Trafficked in Digital Black Holes: Human Trafficking Trajectories to Libya
Abstract
Eritrean refugees are being trafficked and enslaved in Libya, where they are
tortured to force relatives to pay a ransom for their release. Labelled with a
digital code, they are moved along in the possession of the traffickers through a
series of ‘black holes’, in which their access to digital technologies and
connectivity is highly controlled. They are tortured, abused, extorted and
subjected to sexual violence. Many die along the way. If they make it to the
Mediterranean Sea, they risk being intercepted and returned to Libya or dying
at sea. Over the period of this study (2017–2021), it is conservatively estimated
that at least two-hundred thousand – men, women and children – have fallen
victim to human trafficking for ransom in Libya, and the cumulative value of
this trade for that period is estimated at over 1 billion USD. This detailed
ethnographic study identifies the routes, modus operandi, organisation, and
key actors involved in the human trafficking for ransom of refugees and
migrants, who are desperately in need of protection. The book is part of the
GAIC Research Network and African studies series published by Langaa
RPCIG and makes an important contribution to the literature on human
trafficking, migration studies, African studies, modern slavery, social
protection and governance.
Following a series of corporate scandals involving human rights abuses, forced labour, and unethical sourcing practices across supply chains of major corporations, we have seen a growth in voluntary, soft, as well as hard law and compliance-oriented regulations demanding supply chain and human rights due diligence (HRDD) and increased transparency of value chains on the part of multinational enterprises. This chapter seeks to peek behind the veil of ‘transparency’ and corporate disclosures and interrogate the current limits of these compliance-driven visions of social justice and the dynamics of compliance and defiance in corporate reporting by juxtaposing these with the realities of supply chains in the fashion and luxury industry. We argue that corporate disclosures, which tend to make us mistake carefully designed compliance maps for the actual territories of supply and value chains, could hide more than they reveal, resulting in new forms of opacity and practices of ‘compliance washing’, while further entrenching and enhancing the power of large market actors. To make our case, we delve deep into the complex entanglements of labour migration, organized crime, exploitation, and human suffering which are part and parcel of contemporary fashion supply chains, following the destinies of labour migrants from Africa to Made in Italy.
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