"There is still a lot to say about human trafficking in Libya"

Narciso Contreras.

Géraud Bosman / RFI

Text by: Géraud Bosman-Delzons Follow

9 min

Photojournalist of Mexican origin, Narciso Contreras exhibits at the Bayeux Tapestry (Calvados) until November 5 as part of the war correspondents award.

Based on one of his photos, we gave him the floor so that he could detail the context of his work in Libya.

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Narciso Contreras has covered several conflicts and their humanitarian consequences, notably in Syria and Yemen.

Awarded the Carmignac Foundation scholarship, he stayed in Libya between February and June 2016. He then documented the reality of human trafficking in centers in the hands of militias, far from the capital.

“The man lying on the ground is called Ibrahim Mussa.

We are in the detention center in the city of Sorman, west of Tripoli, in May 2016. He is writhing in pain because he has terminal cancer of the stomach.

In addition, he did not eat the days leading up to this photo.

His friend tries to help him up, but his pain is too much.

No one seemed to be able to do anything to help him.

They stayed there until we brought them back to a bus with a group and they were taken somewhere, I don't know where, although I asked the question correctly.

In my opinion, this image perfectly describes the conditions in which millions of migrants in Libya and asylum seekers live, especially those who are sick.

I had fifteen minutes of access, and the first scene I witnessed is that of these two young Africans.

In fact, the most critical moment of this scene, I was not allowed to photograph it.

Because there were corpses in that corner of the camp where they were.

Then I entered the main compound of what was a huge abandoned factory: thousands of migrants were locked there.

Among them, the sick, without access to care.

I spoke to a few.

Then the Libyan guards took me back.

Everything happened so fast.

Entering this kind of place, administered by a Libyan militia and far from the surveillance of the authorities in Tripoli, is extremely difficult.

It takes a lot of time, months, and several stays in Libya to reach them.

I was able to enter this camp through various contacts, including a colleague in Zawiya, who had a large network.

He helped me get in touch with the commander in charge of various places of detention.

It was necessary to follow a kind of protocol, that I speak with the person in charge of this camp so that he knows me.

They granted me the right to interview two inmates who were actually two slaves who worked for the commander.

I was unable to take notes, recordings, or photos.

Just talk to them.

So I couldn't include this episode in this photo project.

Another lived scene: I meet a man in the old town of Tripoli, which is a huge gathering point for migrants, illegal or not.

He is on the phone with a friend or one of his brothers in detention in a center.

The commander asks him to bring money as a condition of his release.

This is live testimony and evidence of extortion to free a man.

I have collected several testimonies of this kind.

It is human trafficking.

►

Banned from Libya

I started by covering the migrant crisis in 2014. I then realized the extent of the problem: the specificity of this conflict, beyond the question of migrants, is that it is also about 'a very lucrative business.

So I wanted to go further with a long-term project.

We have succeeded in extricating the evidence of the existence of human trafficking and slavery and of a small part of this gigantic situation in which thousands and thousands of people are trapped [

broadcast

on the slave markets had a worldwide impact, but the phenomenon had already been seen and denounced for several years by journalists and humanitarian workers on the spot, editor's note]

► To read also:

Since this work, I no longer have the right to return to Libya.

I tried lots of times, I spoke to the Ministry of the Interior, to that of Communication, nothing to do, I am blacklisted.

The Libyan authorities were very upset against me after this report.

By establishing that the ruling militias are involved in the smuggling of migrants, I uncovered something that Tripoli was trying to hide and they felt threatened.

This report made me too visible when it is better to keep a low profile to be able to continue working.

I would even have preferred to do it anonymously, but from an ethical point of view, it's impossible, you need a name associated with this work.

I am enraged because there would be a lot to say about what continues to happen there, on the slave markets, now known to everyone

And that's the second part of the story I'd like to tell: this market is linked to a larger network that operates from sub-Saharan countries to Europe, via Libya.

This commander whom I met on the west coast told me about a 500-seat boat driven by Italian traffickers who came from Italy to buy migrants to bring them back.

How did he get there?

No idea.

There is a black hole [of information, note] in Libyan waters controlled by the militias.

And in the wake of the revelations about the slave markets in Libya, many others have reported on the slavery situation around detention centers in Italy, especially in the agricultural sector.

"

♦

Since October 8, RFI has been following high school students in immersion at the Prix Bayeux.

For these teenagers, it is a week outside their school, discovering the outside world and its current events, studious days rich in (masked) encounters with media professionals but also in action with the development of a newspaper,

Citoyens du monde

Saturday October 10.

Supervised by Delphine Ensenat, editor and host Laurent Derouet, journalist, first year students from the Alain Chartier high school in Bayeux are preparing the interviews they are about to have with journalists from the Bayeux Prize.

" 

 ", indicates Laurent Derouet.

Laura, Hyanie, Manon and Flavie even had a privilege: 25 minutes with the president of the jury, Ed Vulliamy and with Marielle Eudes, director of photography for AFP.

Formulating your questions, constructing your article, and understanding the concept of a subject's angle, so much work for these budding journalists.

" 

 ", explains Flavie.

If the

newspaper

is wrapped up during the week to be distributed during the ceremony, the students continue their work all weekend to produce eight additional pages.

In total, 28 pages of a very professional magazine which will be distributed in all high schools.

Editorial conference for the development of the Citizen of the world of high school students.

Géraud Bosman / RFI

Upstairs, the radio and TV studios.

Here, things are more technical.

You have to learn to put your voice on the microphone, to launch sounds live to the manager ... " 

 ", the instructions fuse while the hour of newspaper is approaching.

These young people from the Arcisse high school in Caumont have two days to learn the radio basics.

by

, these web TV and radio stations have been around for twelve years.

“ 

explains Céline Thiéry, trainer at Clémi: to

 "

Listen to the high school program

In less than half an hour, these budding journalists will have a live interview with Marielle Eudes, AFP photography director.

It thinks hard, but without stress.

Géraud Bosman / RFI

Last image adjustments.

Géraud Bosman / RFI

Each year, nearly 2,500 students from the academy - fewer for this edition - are involved in the programming of the Bayeux Prize, giving it a dimension of media education that is particularly valuable and unique in France.

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