GROUP, Migration Enlightenment Project Nigeria (MEPN), has urged the Federal Government and the National Assembly to make tougher laws against human trafficking.
The call was made in a statement by Co-Project Director (MEPN) and Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Europe (NIDOE) Kenneth Gbandi and Co-Project, Director (MEPN) Berlin, Germany, Femi Awoniyi.
The MEPN hailed the decision of African Union (AU) and European Union (EU) leaders in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire on November 30, 2017 to evacuate stranded migrants from Libya and return them to their countries.
The statement reads: “The CNN bombshell investigative report showing sub-Saharans being traded as slaves in Libya, sparking global outrage, obviously moved both African and European leaders to concrete action.
“While the desire to seek greener pastures abroad is the main motivating factor leading young people to migrate irregularly, human traffickers employing deception play a major role in the ongoing crisis.
“Revelations emerging from returnees from Libya indicate that most of the stranded migrants had been trafficked, confirming a recently-published study conducted by Rome’s Link Campus University and the War and Peace Studies Centre.”
It added: “The activities of human traffickers do not end with deceptively promising their unsuspecting customers an easy passage to Europe but increasingly include taking their unsuspecting clients directly into the trap of kidnappers in Libya.
“Tougher laws against human trafficking will curb the activities of persons engaged in the illicit irregular migration business, who had lured many desperate youths into their untimely deaths and caused immense suffering to thousands.