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Bouquet

2017 (Narrative date)

Libya exists as the main transit point for refugees and migrants trying to reach Europe by sea. 150 000 men, women and children make the dangerous crossing across the Mediterranean Sea each year, with 3000 dying while attempting the journey. With authorities trying to regulate this migration, it is estimated that 400,000 to 1 million people are now bottled up in Libya. This has led to detention centres becoming overrun and along with other abuses, migrants find themselves vulnerable to being sold off in slave auctions as labourers, sex workers or to militia groups.

Bouquet was sold to work on a plantation in Sabha. He then found himself kidnapped by rebels led by Abdul Karim, captured and held along with 1000 other people he was subjected to physical abuse daily. Though he was able to escape in 2016, Bouquet details the conditions endured in Libya, he tells of the resale of migrant prisoners to rebels as slaves, and of the trafficking of migrant’s organs who drown on their journey across the Mediterranean.

You may have seen the video of black people being sold. But that's too late. You've only seen videos of 2017. What happened to the videos of 2013, 2012, 2014? They're not showing you that. Blacks being sold is hurtful, that's true. But believe me there’s worse than that. If I tell you there is worse than that, that's because I have been sold. I know what Libya is because I made it out of Libya. I spent a lot of time in Libya. I know Libya like the back of my hand. I was sold for $270. In a place called Sabha that many know. I worked for 6 months on a plantation. By God's grace I was able to escape. But it wasn't over. I escaped one hellhole to embrace another worse one. I fled Sabha for Bangali. I was kidnapped by a group of rebels. The rebel leader was Abdul Karim. All who’ve been through Bangali know this man. This man has over 350 African women in captivity at this very moment. The men I can’t even count. The whip was a everyday thing. The electric wire on your body. We were over 1000 people in Abdoul Karim captivity. By God’s grace I escaped alone. In 2016. When I escaped, I couldn’t help my brothers that were still locked up. I can’t complain to anyone because everyone is in the same migrant trade. When NGOs come visit blacks in prisons, they dress you up in Adidas outfits to give the impression that you’re doing well in prison. There’s not one migrant that going to speak or else it’s your death. They come under the pretext of deporting you but they will never deport. They’re a business between NGOs and Libya. It’s a very easy game. The Libyan navy that’s supposed to support you and show you hospitality by deporting you to your respective countries. That same Libyan navy, rescue you at sea and resale you to other rebels that torture you and force your family to send them money. I saw prisons in Libya five times. Why? If you’re caught while crossing the Mediterranean Sea, it’s the beginning of your worst nightmare. You don’t even have enough to eat. You go out to find something, you’re kidnapped. It’s not easy! It’s the only country in the world that every Friday they sell weapons on the sidewalk. Kalashnikovs are sold for less than a dollar. Only in Libya. The young girls. If you see our African sister in Libya. The way that they’re being tortured!? In the prison in raskah, they make the men take off your clothes. They force you to sleep with your own brother! Your friend that you eat together, you have to sleep with him. If you don’t do it my brother, they break your legs with weapons.

Our African leaders, you stay quiet with your mouth closed. That little video from CNN that you saw. That is painful, is turning the world upside down. If they show you the actual reality, it can set off a third world war. But we didn’t have phones at that time to film what was happening. There’s worse than selling blacks in Libya. There’s much worse! There’s much much worse than that! When I say much worse, believe me. I experiences Libya from the entrance to the exit. Time is of the essence we don’t even have a second to waste. Libyans have private prisons. Meaning that every Libyan built his own private prison.  He can catch 15 to 20 to 40 migrants depending on how big his house is. Locks you up and forces you to pay. We don’t talk about people who are being kidnapped and held in private prisons. The Libyan state prisons, financed by Europe to stop migration of Africans in Europe. The same people catch migrants in the Mediterranean Sea, are the same people that resell them to rebels and submit them to slavery like you’ve seen. Make them work hard!

Many Africans died. When Africans die at sea the corpse wash up on the shore in Souara, the city where I was living. No one is filming this. Here’s a very simple example. When they send 15-20 boats in the Mediterranean Sea, there might be seven boats that make it. What happened to the other boats? They all drowned! One boat hold 120 migrants at one time. Imagine if 15 boats were sent out. And only seven boats make it. Meaning eight boats drown at sea. If you multiply 120 migrants by eight boats it equals a lot of dead blacks. You know how that happens? You’ve never heard of African cemeteries in Libya. You never asked about the corpses of Africans that drowned in the Mediterranean. You’ve never understood the system. We pick up the blacks. It’s thousands of dead corpses. We dig a big hole, we dump the corpses inside the hole. We never cover the hole with dirt. Just to make the Africans believe that they were buried. It’s not done! That’s when the organ trafficking starts. That’s what it’s all about. Organ trafficking! They remove the essential organs before filling the hole. I know what I’m talking about. I’m not talking just to talk. I’m talking about what I experienced. What I saw with my own eyes. They decapitate the African’s bodies. They take the organs they need to sell to the westerners. There are American and French boats on sea. Under the pretext of extracting oil. It’s all business. It’s not oil. When you hear that there are 4 or 25 boats that sank at sea, what do you think happened to the bodies? No one’s talking about that. They’re millions of Africans who died in Libya. Some families think that they’re kids made it to Europe but it’s not so. You can’t even tell the family because you will break their hearts. I’m from Cameroon, I lost a lot of my friends. As I speak right now, many are still in jails. Jails that even African presidents can’t find because they’re underground. You need someone who knows the territory to expose these prisons. I can’t cry anymore, I’m tired of crying. We saw too many corpses. We thank all of you for the huge protests that you did for us today. It’s truly heartfelt. African leaders, if you come, if you don’t come, you’ve already exposed you guilt! But our brothers manifestations gives us hope to escape the hell we are facing. God always has the last word. I thank you.