H. Res. 644 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
July 10, 2018. 
Whereas Libya has become the primary transit hub for mi-
grants and refugees attempting to reach Southern Eu-
rope; 
Whereas in December 2016, the United Nations Office of the 
High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that 
many migrants and refugees in Libya are forced to work 
without pay as farm laborers, domestic workers, con-
struction workers, and rubbish collectors; 
Whereas beginning in 2017, multiple news and international 
organizations began reporting on the existence of slave 
auctions of migrants and refugees in Libya; 
Whereas the Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons 
Report 2017 for Libya stated that migrants held in de-
tention centers controlled by both Libya’s Department to 
Combat Irregular Migration (DCIM) and non-state 
armed groups are subject to severe abuse, rampant sex-
ual violence, forced labor, and other human rights abuses; 
Whereas on February 12, 2018, the United Nations Sec-
retary-General reported to the United Nations Security 
Council that the humanitarian situation in Libya had re-
cently deteriorated further, and that ‘‘Refugees and mi-
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grants continued to be subjected to violence, forced labor, 
and other grave violations and abuses.’’; 
Whereas the Presidency Council of the Government of Na-
tional Accord affirmed the depravity of slavery and 
human trafficking and initiated an investigation into such 
acts within Libya; 
Whereas a September 2017, report from the United Nations 
International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) de-
termined that unaccompanied children who crossed the 
Mediterranean from Libya suffered enslavement, violence, 
and sexual abuse at the hands of smugglers and traf-
fickers; 
Whereas in November 2017, a joint European Union-African 
Union-United Nations Task Force was established to 
protect migrants along migration routes to, from, and in 
Libya; 
Whereas since December 2017, the International Organiza-
tion for Migration has facilitated the return of more than 
15,000 migrants to their homes from Libya through a 
voluntary humanitarian program, and the United Nations 
High Commissioner for Refugees has evacuated more 
than 1,300 refugees from Libya as of March 2018; 
Whereas the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya in 2011 led 
to significant political turmoil and insecurity within the 
country; 
Whereas in December 2017, the Libyan Political Agreement 
was reaffirmed as the internationally-supported frame-
work for creating a unified Libyan government; 
Whereas, despite this agreement, the prolonged and con-
tinuing absence of a unified Libyan government has re-
sulted in a power vacuum in which human trafficking
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and smuggling have emerged as a lucrative trade and 
funds obtained from the transfer, sale, and exploitation 
of migrants are used to fund armed militias competing 
for territory, influence, and control of institutions; and 
Whereas the United States has repeatedly condemned slavery, 
involuntary servitude, and other elements of trafficking 
as a grave violation of human rights and a matter of 
pressing international concern: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) strongly condemns slave auctions and the exploi-
tation of migrants and refugees as forced laborers in 
Libya; 
(2) calls upon all parties to the conflict in Libya, 
including parties to the Libyan Political Agreement, to— 
(A) investigate and eradicate slave auctions 
and forced labor involving migrants and refugees; 
(B) hold those identified in the investigation 
accountable in courts of law; 
(C) manage migration flows and migrant de-
tention centers in a humane manner; and 
(D) investigate how funds earned through the 
transfer, sale, and exploitation of migrants are used 
and the extent to which such profits are fueling and 
prolonging Libya’s civil conflict; 
(3) calls upon the United Nations to— 
(A) investigate allegations of the slave trade 
and other forced labor in Libya;
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(B) advocate that all parties to the conflict in 
Libya, including parties to the Libyan Political 
Agreement, allow the United Nations High Com-
missioner for Human Rights to regularly monitor 
and publicly report on the situation of all refugees 
and migrants in Libya, including those in detention 
centers; and 
(C) expand sanctions under United Nations 
Security Council Resolution 2174 (2014) against in-
dividuals and entities responsible for slave auctions 
and forced labor of migrants and refugees in Libya; 
(4) calls upon the Secretary of State and the Ad-
ministrator of the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development to ensure that any strategies, pro-
grams, or other efforts to address the political and secu-
rity situation in Libya appropriately address the 
vulnerabilities faced by migrants and refugees; and 
(5) urges the Secretary of State to ensure that the 
country narrative for Libya in the annual Trafficking in 
Persons Report fully and accurately reflects the scope of 
trafficking in persons in that country, including any 
complicity by parties to the Libyan Political Agreement 
or other governmental entities, as required by section
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110 of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 
(22 U.S.C. 7107). 
Attest: 
Clerk.